Israel's tech industry has begun 2024 on a jarring note after a year of crisis. With no end in sight to the war in Gaza, the financing ability of many companies is being damaged while at the same time a wave of layoffs has begun in a number of tech companies. According to the "Startup" website, over 400 Israeli tech employees have been laid off in January so far, joining the thousands who lost their jobs last year. Despite the stormy situation, relevant job search sites such as LinkedIn are flooded with open positions and business seems to be continuing as usual, including at companies that have announced layoffs.
But the industry is witnessing these days more and more ghost jobs being advertised - jobs that are fake. "Many tech companies try to broadcast business as usual," says Hed, a veteran in the industry. "They are trying to show to the outside that the company continues to be strong despite the situation and the war and continues to hire, that have not been harmed."
Another source in the industry says "HR departments in senior organizations have recently published at least 10 jobs with currently no intention of filling them, at least not soon."
"About 60% of jobs are repeatedly advertised"
The ghost jobs phenomenon is not unique to this time. It has manifested itself in the past, such as during the Covid crisis. However, there are those who believe that the current crisis in the Israeli tech industry is more worrying than on previous occasions. "Today we are in a situation, and this is a feeling that comes up when I talk to a lot of recruiters, that it is more worrying than before," says the recruiter who specializes mainly in hiring senior executives. "During the Covid crisis, I would receive an email or a message about every position that was closed or frozen, and there were a lot of them. Now, however, companies are more careful about closing or freezing an open position. "The feeling is that in this period there are more cover-up stories. Many tech companies, large and small, have been leaving jobs for a long time, even though some of them are not difficult to staff. This is a phenomenon also occurring at companies that have announced layoffs."
Avi Tzedaka, from placement and advertising strategy on social media consultant Dr. LinkedIn, says that over 60% of tech jobs advertised time after time by corporate giants are simply not filled.
"Hundreds and even thousands of candidates apply for some jobs," he says. "Although the issue of 'ghost jobs' is not new, but now in the war we see that it is intensifying. Even the big companies are affected by the security situation. Many of them find themselves in the headlines and this can have an effect in all kinds of ways, such as their branding for investors."
He says it is difficult to know when the employer posted the job for the first time, because the date shown in it refers to the time it was last posted. "In addition, in Linkedin there is no possibility to leave feedback on the company or the job, and only through the responses can you understand when people started to apply for it."
Maybe the reason is purely financial
Is all this just so that companies can keep their heads above water? There are those who believe not necessarily. According to a recruiter in the industry, it is possible that the process of hiring employees is currently simply stricter than before, given the situation.
"In previous years, companies would allocate budgets for recruitment much faster. Today, on the other hand, they delve more into the procedures and allow themselves to sort out the candidates," she says. "It is possible that due to the current uncertainty because of the war and the global economic crisis, companies are delaying hiring processes beyond the usual. Companies are waiting for businesses to return to operating normally and in the meantime this is a form of saving, to remain another month or two in the current format, while other employees within the company can take on part of the burden of the jobs that have not yet been filled."
Tech placement Ethosia CEO Eyal Solomon also treats the ghost jobs trend lightly. "In normative companies I do not see this scenario happening. I actually see other scenarios that result in jobs being unfilled for a long time. It may be that from the company's point of view there are not enough suitable candidates and that the company is picky and continues to look for the gems, especially with so many layoffs, it is possible that good employees are now being released onto the market.
"Although we see that the processes are now really taking longer, it may be related to the desire of various tech companies to find the most suitable candidates. There is a slowdown in the entire market, which is an objective slowdown due to the fact that entire departments are in the reserves. Among other things, the departments also believe in hiring, so the applications continue to pile up and the process is delayed, certainly in large organizations the whole issue of standards is very, very rigid."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 24, 2024.
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