Israel’s Job Market 101

Ahh, Tel Aviv’s job market, how come no one can ever please you?
You demand our full attention, energy and dedication and yet you are failing in keeping your end of the deal. How much can one ask for and give nothing in return?

The thing about searching for a job is that you need to be able to bare it day and night. Let’s face it, in our grim reality our workplace is not only our provider but our second home, in some cases even the first. We live in Tel Aviv! One of the most expansive cities in the world and it’s up to us to keep our bank accounts balanced and our heads above water. We need to pay the bills and the rent, we need to pay for our studies and groceries, we need to fix our rundown apartments and deal with the ever-growing debt of existence in a world where nothing is free. We need to pay everything we got but if all we do is accumulate the funds to live, are we really alive?

And what can we actually do about it? Nothing. We will have to keep working double shifts, we will have to give up on vacations and holidays and we are forced to feel grateful for it because these issues does not concern anyone who has the power to change it. So we might as well try and find a work place that’s worth our while, moneywise. It may be a little tough to find someplace though, workplaces nowadays offer too little and demand too much, they attract you with those big slogans and promises and at the end of the day add some fine-print to the mix so you won’t get any of what you expected in the first place. They know you need them more than they need you and they are willing to exploit that fact until you break. Or so it seems.

Keep all that in mind while the search begins and like me you’ll find yourself left alone in the big scary corporate world. It’s something us Israelis love to complain about; we tend to forget that we got ourselves into this demanding way of life, that we chose to move to this city, that we let landlords demand most of our funds for their little piece of real-estate that shouldn’t be occupied by a human being. We tend to complain about situations that could have ended if someone put their foot down in the first place and that’s one of our biggest flaws. As Israelis we like to portray ourselves as independent folk who will crush anything in their way for their own gain — like the big macho men we want everyone to think we are. In the process we let everyone who has a little power push us down and we say nothing, we keep our heads down and try to go by our day-to-day lives with whatever funds we can get our hands on.

We are afraid that if we speak up it won’t lead to any kind of change, but will just put us in an even harder situation. This time, though, I’ll be the one to put my foot down. I will not let this market put me down again, I will quit this job that suffocates me for minimum wage, I will find a job where I’ll be able to actually save up some money, I’ll keep searching and keep my head high. I’ll demand what I think I deserve and I’ll speak out for my fellow coworkers. Someone should start us off, and when us large-mouthed Israelis start acting-up, like we should, the job market will be forced to bend over-backwards to find employees, and not the other way around.