The coronavirus epidemic in Israel is turning into an unemployment epidemic. Just past midnight on Tuesday, the number of jobseekers hit 1,004,316 – one-fourth of the workforce. Most of the newly unemployed are workers who have been furloughed without pay.
More and more unemployed continue to register with the Israel National Employment Service (INES), with 35,668 added to the rolls on Tuesday alone, a jump of 49% compared to Monday.
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A total of 843,945 registered for unemployment in March 2020. Nearly 90% (89.7%) are workers who had been assigned to unpaid leave, with another 6.4% who were laid off. These numbers – which have translated into an unemployment rate of 24.1% – are unprecedented in the history of Israel.
INES Director Rami Grauer said Tuesday: "Unfortunately, our predictions came true – we reached a million unemployed in March.
"We are working on creating conditions to enable next month to start with lower unemployment by restoring the economy gradually, insofar as we can in accordance with instructions. We are prepared to provide the public with solutions, with aid possibilities laid out as part of the national emergency plan we put together," Grauer said.
He also noted that the INES had mainly been discussing salaried employees.
"If a quarter of the workforce aren't working, then it's obvious that at least a quarter of the self-employed are in a similar situation, possibly even worse. The unemployment service estimates that there are at least 125,000 self-employed workers in Israel who have already been hurt badly by the crisis," he said.
Grauer added that while he welcomed the government's plans to provide compensation and grants to the unemployed, the main goal was to ensure that the nation's businesses and self-employed could get back on their feet and pay their employees.
