Manpower: Demand for workers up 22% in 2004 
 
Most of the rise was in computers and communications. 
 
by Michal Raveh    
Globes
January 13, 2005
 
Demand for workers grew 22% in 2004, compared with 2003, according 
to a survey by Manpower Israel of help-wanted ads in the main daily 
newspapers. Demand for employees in the fourth quarter was 4% less 
than in the third, but 32% higher than in the fourth quarter of 2003. 
Demand for employees rose 15% in the first quarter of 2004 and 10% in 
both the second and third quarters, before dropping 4% in the fourth. 

The biggest increase in demand was 64% in computers and communications, 
particularly for network managers, support personnel, software engineers, 
programmers, and hardware engineers. 

Office services were next, with a 41% increase in demand for employees. 
Demand was up 26% in retail trade and services and 12% in industrial 
manufacturing and metals, mostly for production managers and workers 
in production, printing, textiles, welding, wiring, electronics, and quality 
control. 

Demand for employees rose 9% in marketing and sales, with a steep 
increase in demand for sales agents and telemarketers. Demand for 
university graduates and managers grew 4%, including senior executives, 
personnel managers, accountants, and bankers, capital market personnel, 
and economists. Demand for university graduates fell in the biotechnology 
and pharmaceutical industries, particularly in chemistry, biology, and the 
life sciences. 

Manpower Israel CEO Dalia Narkiss said the demand for personnel had 
recovered in 2004, after three years of recession. Manpower Israel adapted 
its business activity to the new economic situation and competitive 
conditions in Israel by preserving its existing staff, hiring fewer new workers, 
and trying to retain its customers. 

Narkiss added that further recovery in the labor market and job creation 
depended on continuation of the government’s economic policy, further 
improvement in global trade, and security calm. 

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on January 13, 2005