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.
