Survey: Post-pandemic tech hiring slowdown expected in 2022

Israeli venture firm OurCrowd's Q3 2021 High-Tech Jobs Index has revealed that despite robust hiring across the industry over the past 12 months, companies are predicting a recruitment slowdown in 2022.

OurCrowd portfolio companies showed strong demand for new hires with a 244% year on-year increase in the number of jobs advertised from Q3 2020 to Q3 2021. In a survey, 65% of OurCrowd startups said they had hired more aggressively in this past quarter, but the same proportion of 65% said they will scale back hiring to key positions in 2022.

This is the fourth quarterly high-tech jobs survey by Jerusalem-based venture investing platform OurCrowd.

Software engineering remains the most in-demand skill with 20% of current openings. Business development is in second place with 13% and Operations in third with 11%.

The trend of hybrid working looks set to be a permanent fixture, with 84% of companies surveyed saying their employees are partially working from home. The overwhelming majority, 81%, expect that to continue in 2022.

Remote work is also opening doors for candidates living in the periphery with more than a quarter of portfolio companies based in the center of Israel saying they are hiring more staff from beyond the main high-tech corridor between Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa.

“It is encouraging to see that startups continue to tap the considerable talent pool in the periphery. As we see this trend taking hold, those same companies are also content in letting staff members from the periphery work from home, saving them the long commute to the office and increasing their overall productivity,” said Laly David, OurCrowd Partner and Head of Business Development. “The tech industry is leading the way to what might lead to a permanent change in the employment landscape in Israel.”