Ethiopian Israelis

Did you know?

In 2003, only five Ethiopians Israelis were employed in Israeli high-tech companies.
Since then, the numbers are better, but are still far from where they should be. While the general employment of Ethiopian Israelis is fairly high, their percentage in high-tech companies is low.
They account for merely 0.01% of all high-tech employees, far from their percentage in the population.

A powerful combination of government support and private initiatives have brought about a surge of Ethiopian Israelis in high-tech companies. In the hope that this trend continues we anticipate that in the not-so-distant future we’ll see Ethiopian Israelis in big high-tech management positions.

Here’s what you can do to improve this situation

#1 Create collaborations.
Reach out to organizations such as ‘Tech-Career’ and others. This is almost the easy part – you get to sit back while they provide you with a list of excellent candidates with the updated training and hunger for success

#2 Location.
Unfortunately, the Ethiopian community resides mostly in the social and geographical periphery, so the common recruiting channels don’t always apply, especially at the early stages of their careers. That’s why the collaboration with the said organizations is critical and can be mutually beneficial.

#3 Be aware and caring.
When interviewing an Ethiopian Israeli candidate, do not address the elephant in the room. It brings no value and can give the feeling of patronization, or worse – making you seem as if you want to hire a “model” employee.

#4 Know your calendar.
The Ethiopian community celebrates events such as Sigad, and often, the more traditional employees will want to take participate. You can also choose to commemorate them in your company, thus promoting Ethiopian culture and bringing employees closer.