Israel's Foreign Worker Dilemma: Economic Downturn Debate

The first site in google search for foreign home care workers. Caring for the old at home is not a job done my Israelis. This site advertised workers from: "south east Asia (such as Thailand and the Philippines) and in eastern Europe."

The number of unemployed in Israel is flat or slightly down at 7.6% (1st quarter 2009) [228,000 out of 3.005 million workers, Israel Bureau of Statistics, 27/5/09]. Unemployed workers now outnumber the number of foreign workers. This puts pressure on the state to reduce the number of foreign workers. But some of the foreign worker are doing work Israeli natives are not willing to do. Still, out of approximately 200,000 registered foreign workers there must be some who can be replaced by Israelis. There are estimated 200,000 more unregistered illegal workers (some with expired permits some smuggled through Egypt and Jordan). The thinking now, while the economy is not creating enough jobs, first turns to these workers. The reduction of foreign workers in Israel started in mid-2008. The Olmert administration did not pay much attention to the details: what work needs to be done and by whom. They just cared about reducing the number of foreign workers, and as quickly as possible. A policy was formulated to reduce the foreign workers by half in one year (mid 2009) with focus on restaurant and services (i.e. cleaning), and agriculture (i.e. pickers and packers). The idea was to give Israelis a chance to take the jobs which will open up once foreign workers left. It has not worked very well, in some sectors it has not worked at all. The jobs in home care of old people, now done by young women from the Philippines and Thailand is attracting so few Israelis, training programs are no longer running. In agriculture the problem is even worst, farmers are already warning that some crops will simply disappear from store shelves. Some cash crops will not be exported any more. Even if Israeli workers start processing fruits and vegetables the cost of manufacturing will go up. In today's economic climate farmers will not be profitable or will lose their competitive pricing. This is the price we pay in hard economic times, some products simply are not viable. This means some workers are not needed.

Two sectors which have seen reduction in foreign workers and did not suffer are construction and tourist services (hotel service workers). The state put a goal to reduce foreign restaurant workers by half by this time (last year's plan). Restaurant owners cried that Israelis will not live without Chinese food and Sushi. It turned out that nobody even noticed the change in Tel Aviv, I suspect this is true in smaller cities as well. The same with the construction industry, new building starts have virtually stopped, you see very few Chinese construction workers on bikes going to work these days. But quietly and away from the ever watching eyes of the media, Palestinian workers from the west bank are starting to make their way to construction sites. They are first used on small buildings where the work is less visible. Eventually I expect to see them in large building projects. Reduction in the foreign workforce in Israel is still a work in progress. Maybe as the economy continues with it's sluggish recovery more Israelis will roll up their sleeves and take tough jobs.

Israel is facing the same dilemma as other developed countries. Bring in cheap foreign workers and help employers fill low paid jobs. On the other hand keep the domestic workforce working through economic ups and downs. Israel had a solution up to ten years ago: Palestinian workers. When relations with the Palestinians was good, workers could come from Gaza and the west bank. Palestinian workers are close geographically, were ready to work in construction and tourism and were available in large supply. All this ended with the first Intifada and with the second one it ended completely. For the last ten years this option has been dead. So workers are brought from Thailand, the Philippines, eastern Europe, China and even India. Geographic distance and cultural difference make the recruiting more difficult and expensive. This in turn costs more to employers and leaves less in the foreign workers' pockets. So to make it worth while they take second jobs in cleaning and cooking and stay longer to save more. Eventually longer stays in Israel become marriages between them and to Israelis and a second generation of foreign workers is born in Israel. Now the situation is a little more complicated. Lately the newspapers have been running stories about children of foreign workers being sent "back home". To countries they do not know and families which turn out to be distant relatives.

There is no way to know what will happen long term to the foreign workers in Israel. On one side Israel wants to keep the population as Jewish as possible. On the other hand there is a need for workers to do certain jobs. There is also hope of better relations with the Palestinians. This is Netanyahu's big hope. If he can settle some things and use US President Barak Obama as a catalyst, the Palestinians may agree on a peace treaty. Maybe not a full peace declaration but a cease fire of sorts. Last time this happened with Egypt's Anwar Sadat and the Palestinian's Yasser Arafat the Israeli economy took off like a rocket. Tourists came, investors invested and international reporters went to other places with interesting news. For a short time everyone was drunk with euphoria. If this happens the whole foreign workers issue will disappear in a puff of smoke. Palestinians will have jobs, Israelis will be happy... but than again, maybe this is just my wishful thinking dreaming?