The second survey, published in November of 2020, was also spearheaded by Y. Benjamin Strategic Marketing in conjunction with Leumitech, Intel Ignite, and Yigal Arnon Law, in partnership with the Zell Entrepreneurship Program and Benson Oak Ventures. Over 200 startups participated in this more in-depth survey on matters of their workforce, sales, product, fundraising, and interaction with accelerators. You can download it here.
Prior to Covid, perhaps 5% of Israeli employees were allowed to telecommute. That’s effectively flipped, with 87% now telecommuting on at least a part-time basis, with 42% doing so full-time.
- 44% of startups either reduced their office space.
- Half of the startups see employee location as less important than before.
- 29% indicate they will rely more upon outsourcing.
- Productivity has remained the same (47%) with a 27 to 26% ratio of gainers vs. losers.
- ‘An overwhelming 85% see it at least somewhat likely that they’ll maintain their WFH stance for at least a year after the Covid crisis ends.
Prior to the lockdowns, Israel lacked at least 15,000 IT personnel to meet demand. While layoffs may temporarily ease access to local talent, Israeli companies increasingly have to compete with their larger international counterparts driving up wages. That’s not likely to change if and when we start returning to normal.