At four in the afternoon, a Tel Aviv restaurant kitchen is already in motion. A kitchen assistant chops cucumbers and tomatoes into perfect small cubes for salad, another stirs a huge pot of chickpeas for hummus, and the dishwasher clears trays from the lunch service as quickly as they arrive. A few kilometres away, an … Read more
In the industrial zones of Holon, Rishon LeZion, Haifa and Be’er Sheva, rows of garages open their shutters early each morning. Cars line up for services, tyre changes and repairs, a delivery van waits for a new clutch, and in a corner bay a technician plugs a laptop into an electric car to update its … Read more
Almost every product sold in Israel passes through a packaging line before it reaches a shop shelf or a customer’s door. Hummus tubs are filled and sealed, bread is bagged, chocolate bars are wrapped, cosmetics are boxed, medicines are blister-packed and online orders are packed into cartons in fulfilment centres. Behind all of this are … Read more
In the industrial zones of Holon, Rishon LeZion, Haifa and Be’er Sheva, rows of garages open their shutters early each morning. Cars line up for services, tyre changes and repairs, a delivery van waits for a new clutch, and in a corner bay a technician plugs a laptop into an electric car to update its … Read more
Cleaning work keeps Israel’s offices, shopping centres, hospitals, schools, hotels, train stations and residential towers functioning every day. The cleaning industry is large and largely run by contractor companies that supply staff to public institutions and private clients. For years, these companies relied on Israeli workers, new immigrants, asylum seekers in some cases, and Palestinian … Read more
A damp stain spreading across a ceiling in a Jerusalem apartment, a solar water heater on a Haifa rooftop that has stopped heating, a new tower in Netanya waiting for hundreds of bathrooms to be connected: these are the everyday challenges that keep Israeli plumbers busy. Plumbing may be less visible than other trades, but … Read more
Construction is one of the biggest employers of foreign workers in Israel. Apartment towers are rising in cities from Haifa to Beersheba, light rail and highway projects are reshaping transport, and damaged areas need rebuilding. The industry has long depended on outside labour, and after Palestinian workers were largely barred from entering Israel from late … Read more
On the twentieth floor of a new residential tower in Petah Tikva, a crew of carpenters is fixing plywood panels and steel props into place, preparing the mould for tomorrow’s concrete slab. Across town, in a small industrial zone workshop, another carpenter is cutting cabinet doors on a CNC machine for a family kitchen. Both … Read more
Israel’s health system is known internationally for advanced hospitals, strong research and a universal health insurance model run through health funds. Behind this system is a nursing workforce that has been under pressure for years. Israel has a relatively low number of nurses per person compared with many developed countries, hospitals regularly report staff shortages, … Read more
Drive through almost any Israeli city today and you will see cranes above new apartment towers, rows of solar panels on warehouse roofs and electric car chargers appearing in parking garages. Every one of these projects needs electricians. From wiring a family flat in Be’er Sheva to maintaining a semiconductor plant in Kiryat Gat or … Read more