After the trauma and loss of October 7, Israel’s economy, particularly the construction industry, tried to return to normal but faced an acute problem: a severe shortage of workers. According to the Association of Foreign Manpower Corporations in the Construction Industry, just before the war, there were about 100,000 Palestinian workers working in Israel; since the massacre, they have not been permitted to enter the country. At the same time, many foreign construction workers from China left for fear of an escalation in the security situation.
Over the past 14 months, Israel has tried to employ foreign workers. Today, about 28,000 foreign workers, coming through foreign manpower corporations, work here. Most are from India, but there remains a shortage of tens of thousands more, according to industry estimates. The private company employing the largest number of workers from India is Dynamic Staffing Services, which has so far sent 3,500 workers to Israel to work in construction; another 10,000 are planned to arrive by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Samir Khosla, Dynamic Staffing Services chairman, is currently visiting Israel. In an interview with "Globes," he talks about the situation in the construction industry and about future cooperation between the two countries. "On October 7, I watched the reports on television," he recalls. "It was shocking. I immediately remembered the terrorist attack in Mumbai (the 2008 an attack carried out against various targets in the city’s south - A.W.). At first, I didn't think I had anything to contribute to Israel, beyond expressing empathy. However, shortly after the events, I received a message from the Indian government, saying that Israel was considering employing construction workers through private companies, and encouraging us to look for opportunities here. I hesitated. On the one hand, the government is calling on us to come to Israel, and on the other hand, I look at the television and see that missiles are being launched at Tel Aviv."
Within a few days, the decision was made. Khosla boarded a plane to Israel in the second week of November, about a month after the Hamas attack. "I came here with an open mind and, to be honest, I didn't think I would do too much business. The plan was to stay only four days. But when I met people here, I understood the urgency and, above all, the enormous potential. I understood that in the long run, this could be a huge opportunity."
"We recruited 7,000 employees in two weeks"
Dynamic Staffing Services was founded in Mumbai almost half a century ago, in 1977, and quickly gained a strong reputation. Today, the company states, it deploys about 16,000 foreign workers annually, and to date has exported a total of about 500,000 workers to some 30 countries.
When you arrived in Israel, the economy needed thousands of workers. When did you realize the magnitude of the event?
"A little after I landed at Ben-Gurion Airport," replies Khosla. "On the business side, I'm an engineer and curious by nature. When I arrive in a new place, I like to walk around and explore. At the construction sites I visited, I saw cranes secured to buildings, but some were shut down. Materials and work equipment stood abandoned. I quickly met with people from the local industry, with representatives of the Israel Builders Association, which represents thousands of companies in the Israeli market, and with senior government officials - and I understood the magnitude of this crisis.
"I used to run a construction company in Dubai and I knew that companies in this industry have very thin margins. They can't survive for months without work. So, I immediately realized they were running out of oxygen here. Following October 7, the existing workforce, most of which was Palestinian, was not allowed to return to the country. The entire industry depended on these people and they had to restart the machines quickly. Therefore, Indian workers offered great hope."
After all those meetings in Israel, you returned to India. What was the next step? Weren't the Indian workers afraid to come to Israel in the midst of a war?
"As soon as the process began, Dynamic was the only private company working on the matter. I then plowed through Israel, from Hadera to Gedera. I met people and within a short period of time I received orders for 6,000-7,000 workers. The need was high and we were in the right place at the right time. We are used to working at a different pace, but the situation compelled us to act faster. We work at our own pace with many companies around the world, but Israel runs in 'sprints' and wants everything faster."
On December 15, the company began implementing the second phase of the project. "Within two weeks, we recruited 7,000 people in India who expressed interest in working in Israel. We did this without advertising in the media, only by word of mouth, and through ads on WhatsApp groups. The Israeli companies required that we check the quality of worker professionalism, and we began organizing training days when the Israelis tested the workers. It was a challenge, but we met it."
"Every request means filling out a 65-page form"
As mentioned, since the beginning of the war, the construction industry has been facing a severe shortage of workers following the ban on entry into Israel of some 102,000 Palestinian workers. According to Population and Immigration Authority data, since October 7, the number of foreign workers who have come to work in Israel, including the construction industry, has already reached almost 25,000, of whom about 6,370 are from India. Foreign companies continue to work around the clock to bring more workers, but sometimes encounter regulatory hardships.
Did you experience this?
"I must be fair. October 7 was a shock to the entire Israeli system. Before that, it was designed to do something different and work mainly with Palestinian workers. After the terrorist attacks, a new scenario developed, and the government apparatus had to adapt to the new scenario. But yes, before I came to Israel, I thought India was the world champion in regulation, and then I discovered that Israel is also a worthy competitor. Every application to bring a worker to Israel requires filling out a 65-page form that is not simple. We send nurses to the UK, for example, and the process is simpler. In many countries, everything is online and easy, and most countries have significantly reduced bureaucracy".
What else delayed the increase in the number of workers?
"In general, during this journey there have been many disruptions, such as cancelled flights. Israel is in a neighborhood where many things happen without notice. One time, an attack from Iran shut down flights, another time, the war in Lebanon."
"I personally received the workers from India at Ben-Gurion Airport"
India is now the world’s most populous country, overtaking China with 1.4 billion inhabitants. However, many people within this enormous population suffer from severe poverty; wages are very low, often around $200 a month, leading many to seek employment in other countries.
"India is indeed a poor country. But on the other hand, our employees have professional experience, so they are able to work in many countries around the world, not necessarily in Israel. However, many wanted to come here because they have family and friends who already work in Israel, mainly in nursing care. They knew about Israel, and heard amazing things about the country. Some were skeptical and even afraid of the war, and that's where we came into the picture. We began talking to people and explaining the situation in Israel to them. One of the things my father always told me was, 'Don't send people anywhere you wouldn't go yourself.' So, we emphasized to the workers that I was also in Israel at the time and would meet them at the airport. And that's what I did.
"On February 13, when the first workers landed in Israel, I was waiting for them at Ben-Gurion Airport. I promised that I would take care of them, and they believed me, and said: 'Okay, we'll jump into the deep end.' Of course, also because of the salaries, which are quite high, but not only."
What is the actual salary?
"The minimum wage for a worker is about $2,000 per month, or $24,000 per year. Israel is also a country of educated people. Most people in this country have degrees and what happens in most of the countries where we operate is that educated people move into careers more suited to their education. We also send a lot of people to Europe these days -- a lot of people -- and they earn a better income in knowledge-based industries that don’t require physical labor. The minimum wage there is NIS 5,600 for 182 hours per month. A foreign worker here earns about NIS 7,700 and he works 236 hours."
"Israel is among the most pleasant countries for Indian workers"
Did the Indian workers who came here experience culture shock? You know, Israelis aren't always known for being the most polite and patient people.
"Intuitively, it may seem that way, but it's not. The people who come through us have also worked in other countries like Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, and in these countries, workers live in neighborhoods and areas that are designated just for them. They are separated from the locals and hardly ever meet them. So, many of the workers who came to Israel did not experience a negative culture shock. In Israel, the first thing that surprises them is that they live alongside the local population. They live in a building with apartments owned by local families. For them it was a very pleasant experience because they were treated well and welcomed.
Many workers told me there people talked to them in the supermarket, and were curious and nice to them. They are not used to that, and it’s an amazing experience for them. As someone who travels all over the world, I can say that Israel is one of the few countries where Indian workers feel the most comfortable and welcomed by the local environment. They love working here."
Before the workers arrived, did you teach them Hebrew?
"Every time we send workers to a new country, we have a cultural orientation program, including a language training program. We worked quickly as we had to start sending the workers to Israel quickly, so we launched a project called 'Shalom, Namaste' -- a short training program. At the same time, we developed an app that explains the rules of Israeli culture and the local language. We also talked to them about Judaism, just so they would understand where they were going, because in India they don't really know much about Jewish history."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 30, 2024.
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