An Israeli job skill for Indian labourers has proven to be a failure after many are returning from Tel Aviv after not being given jobs they had been tested for due to a lack of skills, as per a report by Indian Express.
A man from Jaunpur in UP had gome to Israel clearing a pastering test in Lucknow, but was apparently sacked after he entered into an altercation with a Chinese foreman. Instead of plastering, he was offered a job of a cleaner that paid only Rs 800 per hour.
The job scheme was launched after Israel banned taking Palestinian workers since the attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
These workers were earlier promised salaries of up to Rs 1.9 lakh per month, according to the report. They are now being re-deployed to areas that require unskilled jobs in order to not adversely affect the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
These workers were recruited through two methods—Government-to-Government (G2G) and Business-to-Business (B2B) (which are through private agencies).
The government recruitments were done by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
The NSDC shared their process of recruitment with the publication, wherein it said that three rounds of tests were conducted in Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana.
An Israeli employment agency professional told the publication, “Through the G2G bilateral route came very young Indians, many 20-year-olds who had never worked in construction…They came from jobs like farming and hair-cutting, some did not even know how to hold a hammer.’
Regarding the B2B workers he said, “Israeli builders refused to let them work on construction sites… the (Israeli) government finally gave us permission to put the G2G workers in unskilled jobs — factories, cleaning, loading-unloading, etc. The reputation of Indian workers became bad because Israeli builders don’t know who was B2B and who was G2G. After this experience, the builders got scared of getting unskilled Indian workers and asked us to bring Chinese, Moldovan and Uzbek workers and those from other countries. I have heard more than 500 G2G workers have gone back to India.’’
An Indian recruitment company executive told the publication that after this 'debacle' contractors as well as clients have cancelled around 2,000 visas of Indian workers.
“Though testing was done at Israel-approved centres, the fact is that unskilled persons, even fruit sellers and rickshaw-pullers, landed up in Israel. This had an impact on the departure of B2B workers as well. Our company has sent 900 workers but we still have 400-500 more selected and waiting,” he also said.
Israel’s Population & Immigration Authority has also issued a note in this regard and admitted that the workers were allowed to perform unskilled jobs instead of the ones they were taken to the country for.
“The identification and prior skill testing of candidates, the standardisation of training and clarity in understanding the individual requirements for overseas placement initiatives are areas where improvements can be considered,” the Haryana Chief Minister's Office told the publication.