Over the past 30 years, 57- year-old Afula native Rachel Maman has served as a caregiver for the elderly, working in a local nursing home. But for this mother and grandmother, who describes herself as a “people person,” nature is taking its course and exhaustion is setting in. She is starting to think about her career options as she approaches a more senior age.Luckily for Maman, along with many other industrial and manual workers – as well as professionals in Israel’s labor force – a very special foundation has been established to assist those approaching retirement to launch a brand-new career so that they can continue to earn a living while maintaining productivity and self-worth.Known officially as the Ma’agalim Foundation, this national project under the auspices of the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry in conjunction with the “new” Histadrut labor federation, provides certified and subsidized training programs for working men and women ages 50-65 looking to start anew in the workplace.So once a week, instead of heading for home after a long shift at the nursing home, thanks to Ma’agalim, Maman joins 15 other women in her age bracket, and is learning from scratch the skills needed to begin a new career in interior design. Maman says that while the field is challenging, “all week long I look forward to my course,” since she has dreams of one day leaving the healthcare field, and perhaps even opening her own interior design business.Chairwoman of the Ma’agalim Foundation Yafa Vigodsky says her government- funded entity was established in 2012, “recognizing that people can be productive after the age of 50, even if they are unable to work in the same job.” She says that while the project is only in its second year, more 2,000 workers between the ages of 50-65 already receive professional training in facilities all over the country.Vigodsky explains that the program benefits both employees and employers.The employee receives training in a new field, while the employer receives a more motivated, productive and happier employee who has less fears or doubts about the future.What usually happens, explains Vigodsky, is that a Ma’agalim representative will identify a suitable business (most of the time located in the periphery) and meet with the company’s management or human resources department to offer training courses for suitable employees. Vigodsky says there are very specific criteria and guidelines regarding which workers qualify.Most courses are four hours long and often take place in the evenings. Even if they are scheduled for the daytime, workers are usually excused from their shifts in order to attend.Sharon Helfenbaum, the manager of employee training for the Isrotel chain of hotels (with corporate headquarters in Eilat), can’t stress enough how the Ma’agalim training programs are a “win-win” for her company.What’s key for her company in particular, says Halfenbaum, is employee retention. She explains that “what’s important to me is that we’ll train these older employees, not that they’ll work somewhere else, but that they’ll assume new responsibilities within our company and be highly motivated in their new positions. We very much want them to stay with us.”Halfenbaum cites specific examples: “We have waiters and housekeepers, for example, who are being trained to work as cosmeticians in our spas. We also have those on staff who have never used a computer in their lives receiving computer training so they can continue with the company, working as secretaries, or at the reception desk.”Thanks to Ma’agalim’s programming, Halfenbaum is able to send new immigrants employees to ulpan courses to improve their Hebrew, while Hebrew speakers can attend English language classes so that they can effectively work in positions involving communicating with Anglo tourist guests.According to Halfenbaum, there are currently 120 Isrotel employees enrolled in Ma’agalim courses throughout the country.She is grateful to the foundation for the initiative, and proud that her employees were given the opportunity to be a part of the program.Zahava Levi, 51, and Sima Ronen, 56, are both long-time assembly-line workers at a food-production-and-processing plant in Beit She’an. Levi is one of those responsible for the preparation of the company’s breaded schnitzel product, while Ronen is involved with packaging hot-dogs and other processed meats.Both are now taking courses to become professional pastry chefs, once they decide to leave their current jobs in which they work long daily shifts, always on their feet.Levi says that despite her long days and being tired after work, on the evenings when she goes to her Ma’agalim baking classes she gets a second wind. “The classes actually give us the strength and motivation to come to work the next day,” she says. Levi enjoys learning a new career so much that although the courses are four hours long, “you don’t even feel the time fly by.”Ronen describes the opportunity as being “dreamlike.” She hopes to work at her factory job until she qualifies for her pension at the age of 62, but is looking forward to utilizing the training she is receiving to pursue a second career as a baker-pastry chef.Ronen doesn’t hesitate to thank both her supervisors at work as well as the Ma’agalim representatives individually and by name for facilitating this opportunity, which she describes as “an amazing source of satisfaction.”Vigodsky explains that Ma’agalim’s goal is to expand its efforts in order to reach 4,500 individuals a year and offer them training toward a second career. She also says that her foundation has a branch which assists workers approaching retirement age (67 for men, 62 for women), who are worn out, and are seeking to retire early, to achieve economic stability with dignity, while being able to stop working before the official retirement age.This “early retirement track” is available to men 65 to 67, and 60 to 62-year-old women who fit specific criteria, allowing them to receive early retirement annuity payments which help cover living expenses and avoid the potential health risks of continuing to work those extra years.According to Vigodsky, more and more companies throughout the country are taking the initiative and reaching out to Ma’agalim to provide new career training for their older employees.Many times, “companies will send us a whole group of their workers,” she adds. “From manual laborers, to bus drivers, to nurses, to workers in many other fields, we are providing the tools necessary for those over the age of 50; to realize that they can still be effective employees in the job market.” ■
