The number of haredim employed in the industrial sector in Jerusalem rose by 70 percent over the past five years, the Israel Manufacturers Association reported Wednesday.

INDUSTRIAL FACTORIES and businesses throughout the country employ 20,000 haredim, including 11,000 women.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

"Today, 2,800 haredim are employed in 380 industrial factories in the capital, which represent 55% of the factories in the city," Yitzhak Reif, chairman of the association's Jerusalem branch, said ahead of Jerusalem Day.

Industrial factories and businesses throughout the country employ 20,000 haredim, including 11,000 women.

Reif called upon the heads of Jerusalem's haredi community to enable 10% of yeshiva students to acquire technological education and skills in an effort to find work.

The association's report found that despite the economic crisis, there was a growing trend in the hiring of haredi workers in 10% of the industrial factories employing haredim in and around the capital.

Reif said the majority of haredim were employed in hi-tech factories and businesses, in which they represent 2% to 10% of the workforce. In Jerusalem, the workforces at 100 factories are 10% to 50% haredi, 325 factories don't employ haredim, and 280 factories have workforces that are 10% haredi, he said.

In 2008, 33,500 businesses were active in Jerusalem, representing 7.5% of all active businesses across the country, according to data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. Last year, the participation rate in the labor market in Jerusalem stood at 44.6%, compared with a national average participation rate of 56.5%.

The rate of unemployment in the capital reached 7.7%, compared with the national rate of 6.1%. Out of the 249,000 employees working in Jerusalem, 18.6% were working in education, 12.8% in business services, 11.9% in welfare and social services, 11.5% in the trade and car repair and 10.7% in public services.