Haredi job-seekers with a bachelor’s degree face greater difficulties in finding
work than their non-haredi peers, according to a report published Wednesday from
the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.
It takes a haredi graduate an
average of 6.58 months to find a job, compared to the 4.6 months it takes a
non-haredi person, according to the report.
Additionally, the study found
that for every four requests for interview received by non-haredi job
applicants, haredim receive three, or 25 percent fewer.
Further, only 4%
of haredi job applicants receive more than six responses for every 100 job
applications, while 25% of non-haredi job hunters receive more than 6
responses.
And haredi graduates also earn less than non-haredim with
similar qualifications.
Half of all ultra-Orthodox workers with a
bachelor’s degree earn between NIS 4,500 and NIS 7,200 per month, whereas only a
third of non-haredim with equivalent degrees fall into this bracket.
The
JIIS study, authored by Dr. Dan Kaufmann and Reut Marciano, identified several
factors behind the disparities between haredim and non-haredim in their success
at finding work.
They pointed to the general lack of presence haredim
have in both virtual and actual social networks, and a consequent lack of
contacts with people who could help them in their search for
employment.
But the report also said that stigmas associated with haredi
employers were also a contributive factor, although it was pointed out that such
stigmas were based on ignorance not prejudice.
The authors also found
that resume’s submitted by haredi candidates tended to be less “polished” then
those of their counterparts, and frequently lacked referees.
In addition
to focusing on the experience of ultra- Orthodox job candidates, the study also
addressed the difficulties facing haredi men seeking to enter the job market
resulting from the lack of secular education provided by the ultra- Orthodox
educational system.
The large majority of male haredi high-school pupils
do not study the core-curriculum subjects set by the state.
To redress
the gaps in their education, many haredi men apply to study in preparatory
courses for higher education.
“The absence of basic knowledge in core
curriculum topics, especially mathematics, English and computer skills, along
with a lack of general study capabilities required for academic study, turns
study in these kinds of courses into a serious challenge,” the report
noted.
And haredi men can struggle to finance their studies as well,
since they will generally have lost the various grants and benefits provided to
them as full-time yeshiva students, while also frequently being married with
children.
Despite these challenges, haredi enrollment in higher education
has almost tripled in recent years, the report noted.
But an additional
barrier to employment is the fact that most haredim graduates generally earn
their degrees at academic colleges and not at the more elite Israeli
universities and educational institutes.
“The state must enact various
methods of intervention in order to help haredim integrate into the job market,”
the authors wrote in their study.
“This intervention is particularly
necessary in the coming years in order to allow the first wave of haredi
graduates to integrate into the labor force in the quickest and most effective
way.
“The success of this first wave of haredi graduates in finding work
will hold great influence in the eyes of the haredi public as to the necessity
and effectiveness of academic studies, and has the potential to influence the
continued trend of haredi men enrolling in higher education and going out to
work,” they wrote.
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