Gil Menachem: Staying on unpaid leave will make it harder to return to working world
Tamar Gil Menachem made these remarks in an interview with Keren Uzan, media personality and social activist, at The Jerusalem Post Group 2021 Election Conference. The Lauder Center, where Gil Menachem serves as deputy CEO, encourages the promotion of quality employment in the Negev and operates programs for the day after the economic effects of corona will end.
“At the end of the third closure, there were 400,000 young people on unpaid leave, receiving benefits which encourages people to not return to work. According to the Employment Office, there are 60,000 job vacancies and 720,000 unemployed who will
compete for these jobs as soon as their unpaid leave benefits end. We tell young people not to wait for their unpaid leave to end. We at the Lauder Center understand that to reach full employment, both young people and employers must be incentivized,” Gil Menachem explained. “Young people do not have work experience, and employers are reluctant to take them on. To ensure that the younger generation is integrated into the workforce, they should be encouraged to give up their unemployment benefits by supplementing income or subsidizing professional training with job placement. Employers should be encouraged to accept inexperienced workers by subsidizing their wages.“
According to Gil Menachem, many young people need to enter the labor market, and their lack of practical experience is a barrier to employment.
“We held a job fair in the Negev, and 33 leading companies came to the Negev to talk about hundreds of job openings. More than 2,100 young people signed up to find work. Many have just graduated, and they want to stay in the Negev and work – but they must find a job. The problem is that many fail to overcome the first barrier to the labor market. Providing internships during school is part of the solution, and this is something the government can promote. We have already proven through the Lauder Center’s internship program that if you encourage employers to accept a young person without experience, by providing a subsidy to the employee’s salary and giving him significant mentoring for a two-month period, that 90% of interns receive a full-time job offer. They just need to get the first chance in the labor market. The government can also give this incentive.”