Israel’s construction sector is facing a shortage of manpower. Therefore, the country is working towards bringing in foreign workers from other nations, primarily India and China. The Construction and Housing Ministry of Israel is planning to increase the quota of foreign construction workers by 20,000. It was earlier 30,000 and was increased to 50,000 in November. The approval of the government is awaited in this regard.
Once approved, the Israel government may bring in 17,000 workers from India, 25,500 from Sri Lanka, 20,000 from China, 13,000 from Thailand and 6,000 from Moldova.
The dearth of workers is due to about 80,000 Palestinian construction and agricultural workers being prevented from entering Israel post the Hamas attack. Even if these workers are allowed to enter, there will still be demand for workers in the construction sector as homes need to be built at a faster pace and more hands will be required.
Due to the shortage of workers, construction work has slowed down tremendously. One building is taking approximately 34 months to get built due to lack of manpower.
While it is hoped that 20,000 foreign labourers will come in
without entering into bilateral agreements with their home countries, 10,000 are expected to be brought in by the first quarter of 2024 itself.
Israel is, in fact, considering replacing Palestinian workers with foreign workers to avoid any risk to their security.
