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1 Adar I 5765 - February 9, 2005 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Employment Project for Modi'in Illit Women Gains Momentum

By A. Cohen

An employment project for the women of Modi'in Illit (Kiryat Sefer-Brachfeld) is gaining momentum and approaching the implementation stages. Within two weeks another business, Image Store, will set up a work center, joining companies already operating in the city under a government program called Call Center initiated by Local Council Head Rabbi Yaakov Guterman. Dozens of job interviews are currently being conducted at the Local Council to select approximately 100 women in the new company's initial phase.

The Call Center project, achieved through prodigious efforts by Rabbi Guterman, encourages companies to set up branches in Modi'in Illit by offering various incentives. For example Citybook, headed by R' Icha Rosenbaum of the US, assembles databases and provides services to enterprises abroad seeking to invest in Israel. The company employs women in Modi'in Illit to evaluate all of the information associated with properties—contract terms, mortgages, sales terms, etc., and transmits the information to prospective investors.

Councilman Rabbi Nachman Benshaya, who holds the education portfolio, is investing his own time and money to bring in more investors after Rabbi Guterman enlisted his help in fostering employment.

When the government granted approval for the Call Center project six months ago, Rabbi Guterman issued instructions to shorten the bureaucratic procedures. To demonstrate the potential workforce available in the city and its high level of professionalism he also distributed questionnaires to Modi'in Illit women, which he then presented to various companies interested in opening branches.

These efforts were preceded by meetings Rabbi Guterman arranged with Employment Services officials, including Director A. Dominisini and D.A. Novak, head of the Administration for the Advancement and Development of Industry and Trade. Following the meeting it was decided to also enlist the aid of Modi'in Employment Services Director G. Koriansky, who spoke by phone with hundreds of applicants.

Hundreds of interviews were held over the past two weeks and suitable candidates will be sent to assessment institutes. Operations are scheduled to begin in less than one month. Another company, Tikshov, is also slated to join the Call Center project.

"Ein hakometz masbia es ha'ari," says Rabbi Benshaya, one of the heads of the project. He says this is merely the beginning of a process in which more and more companies will open branches in the city. He praised Rabbi Guterman for the assistance the local council provides in setting up laboratories and offices as well as the application forms and interviews, which spared companies from having to use personnel companies.

Rabbi Guterman said that when he was selected for his previous term he saw a need to develop sources of employment in the city due to the lack of industry in the area. Since the land is privately owned the Israel Lands Administration (Minhal Mekarka'ei Yisrael) cannot assist in the construction of an industrial zone as it does in other cities where the land is publicly owned. While working to solve this problem Rabbi Guterman sought any possible way to bypass the problem by setting up factories and companies that would not need to operate in specifically industrial areas. The Call Center presented itself as the optimal solution to meet the city's employment needs.

Now, with a second company about to open and a third on the way hundreds of jobs are being created for local women, providing them opportunities for respectable employment in computer jobs that pay well above minimum wage (in accordance with the terms of the tender) and do not entail long commutes. Rabbi Guterman intends to encourage more companies to open labs and branches in the city, which offers a wealth of human capital.

Last year Matrix opened a branch that employs dozens of women and the company plans to bring in more jobs. "The women of the city who so choose can find jobs in a range of companies slated to set up labs and offices in the community," says Rabbi Guterman.

 

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