Concurrently with the deteriorating security situation, measures are being taken to include disadvantaged sectors in high tech and eradicate inequality. As part of its expansion, SanDisk Corporation's (Nasdaq:SNDK) Israeli branch is opening a center in Yafia near Nazareth as a result of its strategic cooperation with outsourcing company Galil Software.
SanDisk Israel develops flash storage-based solutions. As of now, it is located in three development centers in Israel: in Kfar Saba, Omer, and Tefen, where it employs a total of 650 workers. The new center is expected to hire dozens of additional employees from Haifa and Nazareth, mainly from the Arab sector. According to SanDisk Israel CEO Shahar Bar-or, the decision in favor of cooperation was taken after SanDisk Israel discovered talented engineers and highly developed capabilities for the company's business in the area and the sector. "We definitely regard the company as a strategic partner, and plan to continue strengthening our work with it," Bar-or remarked.
Galil Software is a high-tech outsourcing company located in Nazareth. It regards itself as an advocate for social activism, with its declared goal being to integrate Arab engineers in the labor market. Measures toward integrating the Arab sector in high tech will also be expressed in a special conference this Sunday to be conducted by Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI) with the international development centers operating in Israel. These companies are considered major high-tech employers, and are therefore capable of influencing the level of labor diversification in the personnel employed by introducing additional sectors, including the Arab sector. "When we decided to establish the center six months ago, we couldn't have imagined that the opening ceremony would take place at a time of tension and the recent events," Bar-or said in a talk with "Globes." "The integration of Arab engineers in the high-tech industry is now more important than ever. The main and most important reason is that the high-tech industry needs the capabilities and qualifications of the entire population in Israel, and we're losing out on thousands of excellent Arab engineers. The second reason is that only employment at high wages can bring about real integration of the Arab population in Israeli society."
IATI CEO Karin Mayer Rubinstein said, "Integration of the Arab sector is one of the major challenges facing Israeli high tech. Success will make it possible to enlarge the labor market and boost productivity." Other participants in the conference include Cisco Country Digitization Acceleration in Israel leader and former leader of Cisco's Corporate Social Responsibility efforts in Eastern Europe, Israel, Palestine, and sub-Saharan Africa Zika Abzuk and Takwin Labs CEO and managing partner Itzik Frid.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 13, 2015
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