Rabat – Israel is seeking to attract Moroccan workers to offset the shortage in its domestic labor market.
According to news reports, Israel plans to launch a pilot program that would welcome Moroccan workers, particularly those involved in the fields of construction and care of the elderly.
Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked announced the decision in a press conference on Tuesday following a meeting with Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Nasser Bourita.
Earlier the same day, Shaked held a working meeting with the Moroccan counterpart, Laftit.
Commenting on the launch of the program, chairman of the Construction and Wood Workers Union within Israel’s Histadrut labor federation, Yitzhak Moyal, told Israeli media that his country is currently “lacking about 40,000 workers, in 10 different professions.”
Moyal further added that the union is “hoping to receive about 15,000 Moroccan construction workers, in a few batches,” noting that the measure “could really improve the pace of construction in Israel.”
“We’re supposed to send teams to Morocco to test the professionality of the workers,” he said.
He further announced that Moroccan workers are due to start arriving in Israel at the beginning of 2023.
Israel’s job market has significant incentives to offer Moroccan workers, Moyal argued, including the potential to make twice as much as the average salary in the North African country.
Israel’s job market suffers an acute lack of labor. The country currently boasts only 60,000 caregivers, who are mostly from Asia and approximately 100,000 foreign construction workers from the West Bank, Thailand, and China, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Prior to traveling to Morocco, Moyal informed the media that the Israeli government is “certain” that cooperation with Morocco will help her country “advance the housing market and also support the elderly population in Israel.”
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