According to the figures, the return of all workers will cost NIS 17.5 billion.

• Loads in the employment bureaus

  Photo: 

  Joshua Joseph

According to data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the employment situation in Israel is worse than anything published so far. Following the closures and restrictions, for the first time since the establishment of the state, in April the number of those missing from their work exceeded the number of employees who worked.

The data shows that in April, a record number of 2,541,600 people were absent from work, accounting for 64.6% of the economy. The usual number of employees was 1,389,800, accounting for only 35.4% of the workforce.

It should be noted that in March, the first month of Corona, only 1,710,600 of the employees were absent from work, while 2,270,100 were employed as usual.

On the eve of the Corona crisis in February, only 402,700 employees were temporarily absent from work, while 3,601,800 employees were employed as usual.

Therefore, even according to the outline of the employment incentive - payment of incentive grants of NIS 7,500-3,500, which should return to work 800,000 employees who have been abroad, will still be absent from work less than 1,741,600 employees, which is 42.9% of the employed in Israel.

In order to restore the situation to normal, no less than 2,138,900 regular work must be returned.

The financial and budgetary significance is NIS 17.4 billion, which will increase the deficit, which is 11% of GDP anyway, while 1.25%, and will reduce the projected deficit in 2020 to a record 12.3% of GDP.

The majority will be fired

Meanwhile, a special survey of the Manufacturers Association and its findings reached Israel Today indicates that 2 out of 3 factories are expected to separate workers in the coming weeks.

The survey of 150 industrial factory owners reveals that about 77% of factory owners will not be affected by the NIS 7,500 grant when deciding on the return of a foreign worker. About the crisis, about 64% of industrialists intend to reduce the number of workers further in the coming weeks. After a quarter of the factory managers were hit by more than 50% of sales in Corona compared to the same period last year, almost a third of them experienced a 50% -25% decrease in sales.A similar rate predicts a similar volume in the coming months, requiring them to adjust manpower and spending to scale Expected and limited sales.

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The association's survey shows that about 23 percent of industrialists say that if the workers' reimbursement grant is made without additional compensation to employers, there will be no choice but to fire employees. If such a compensation plan gets underway, about 18% will reduce the amount of layoffs by 50% -25%, about 12% will cut the planned layoffs by 75% -50%, and 17% will cancel their intention at all Working.

Manufacturers Association President Dr. Ron Tomer said: "The survey reaffirms what we feared - without a major compensation path for a decline in economic activity, we expect another layoff. The route offered by the Treasury will not have a significant impact on employee retention. On the contrary, if it is the only route, we are sadly expected to have a significant layoff in the industry and the surrounding trade and services. "