OurCrowd High-Tech Jobs Index Q1 2022
Israeli high-tech startups see hiring slowdown ahead in 2022
Tech sector remains resilient despite economic and political instability
- Startup recruitment plans rebound from pandemic lows in 2021 but expected to slow for the rest of 2022
- Majority of companies felt no negative impact of global market instability, first weeks of the war in Ukraine or Israeli political volatility
- “Seems like all governments, center, right or left, support high tech as a growth engine.” – Startup CEO
- Companies overwhelmingly need R&D/Software hires, and have difficulty finding them, creating a strong job-seeker’s market
- “I recommend any CEO from small companies and bigger to have a professional HR recruited as part of the main hires.” – Eran Atlas, Co-Founder and CEO of DreaMed Diabetes
- Remote work becomes increasingly permanent as hybrid home/office models become the norm
- Majority see pandemic practice of remote sales a success but are increasing recruiting efforts overseas
Jerusalem, June 22, 2022 – The Q1 2022 OurCrowd High-Tech Jobs Index released today shows that while recruitment has picked up from the same time last year, companies have a more conservative outlook for the rest of 2022. 69% of companies increased hiring in Q1 2022 compared to Q1 2021 but 48% say they will be cautious in their recruitment during 2022, while another 7% predict a hiring freeze.
Concerns of external factors impacting the growth of the Israeli tech sector seem unfounded, at least for the time being, with 41% of startups reporting that global economic instability and other economic components having no effect on their business. 28% said that in Q1 that these factors had a positive effect, compared to 17% in the previous quarter. The first weeks of the war in Ukraine did not affect hiring and 86% see no impact of political instability in Israel on companies
“There was a lot of political instability in Israel recently with multiple elections, etc. This did not have any impact on our business. Seems like all governments, center, right or left, support high tech as a growth engine,” says one CEO.
With the job market tightening and startups competing for staff, respondents report an increased awareness of HR as a fundamental business concern.
“HR is not something you can do on the fly. In any company the employees are THE most important asset and thus I recommend any CEO from small companies and bigger to have a professional HR recruited as part of the main hires,” says Eran Atlas, Co-Founder and CEO of DreaMed Diabetes.
The OurCrowd High-Tech Jobs Index is a quarterly survey and data series tracking vacancies and hiring patterns at high-tech companies in Israel and abroad. The Q1 2022 survey was prepared under the guidance of Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin of Independent Opinion Research & Strategy, who helped design the survey and analyzed the findings.
“The new, post-pandemic reality in the tech sector is coming into focus. While some startups are now shutting down due to the markets and troubled geopolitical arenas, many Israeli startups are seizing the opportunity to gain access to new talent. Hybrid work is here to stay and anyone who thought that boots on the ground is the only way to close a deal, should perhaps rethink their strategy,” says Yakir Machluf, Vice President and Head of Business Development at OurCrowd.
Software/R&D recruits remain the most sought after by far with 86% reporting that their company is seeking them out and they are also the hardest positions to fill. Twice as many companies report seeking software and R&D hires as those who are seeking the next-ranked jobs, in product departments. Just over three-quarters of portfolio companies say the market continues to benefit job seekers.
Assessments that hybrid work patterns are here to stay rebounded compared to Q4 2021. In Q1 2022, a strong majority of 86% forecast that by the end of 2022, most employees will be working hybrid, compared to two-thirds in the previous quarter.
By the end of Q1 2022, OurCrowd was advertising some 4,600 jobs from 177 portfolio companies on the Portfolio Jobs section of the OurCrowd website. 69% of the companies surveyed are hiring mostly or entirely in Israel.
After two years of travel restrictions brought on by the pandemic, when companies were forced to perform many of their sales meetings online, the majority say the remote efforts have proved successful. 62% report that remote sales operations work well or even very well. Nevertheless, 30% of respondents report that the majority of their open positions are located abroad, up from 21% in Q4 2021.
About OurCrowd:
OurCrowd is the online global venture investing platform that empowers institutions and individual accredited investors to invest and engage in emerging technology companies at an early stage. Acclaimed by PitchBook as the most active venture investor in Israel, OurCrowd vets and selects companies across all sectors and stages, invests its own capital, and provides its global platform of over 200,000 registered members from 195 countries with unparalleled access and freedom to co-invest from as little as $10,000 in the companies and funds of their choice.
Founded by CEO Jon Medved in 2013 with the vision of democratizing world-class venture capital investing, OurCrowd has grown rapidly into the world’s leading online venture investing platform and as of 2021 has received over $1.9 billion in commitments, and deployed capital into more than 347 portfolio companies and 39 funds across five continents. To date, OurCrowd’s startups have recorded 59 exits including several stock market listings: Beyond Meat, Lemonade, Innoviz, Hub Security; and numerous high-profile acquisitions: JUMP by Uber, BriefCam by Canon, Argus by Continental, Crosswise by Oracle, Replay by Intel, Corephotonics by Samsung, CyberX by Microsoft, and Kenna Security by Cisco. OurCrowd builds value for its portfolio companies throughout their lifecycles, providing mentorship, recruiting industry advisors, navigating follow-on rounds and creating growth opportunities through its network of multinational partnerships.
PRESS CONTACT: Leah Stern, Partner, Global Communications @OurCrowd / Europe: +44 747 019 6826 / E: leah@ourcrowd.com
