HR Should Be Israel's Next Big Tech Sector

In recent years, startups and large tech companies alike, including Google, Facebook, and Microsoft (which owns Linkedin), have ventured into recruitment and human resource-related technologies. Tech companies are working on creating artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools to improve and automate processes such as employee recruitment, professional training, personal development and employee orientation. Israel’s prowess in AI and machine learning technologies can help the local tech industry take a prominent role in this emerging field.

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Job hunting is a stressful and exhausting process not just for potential employees but for employers, who on average lose $500 a day for each unmanned position. HR tech aims to save organizations and employees time, money, and resources by simplifying recruitment processes.

Job interview (illustration). Photo: Shutterstock

According to data published in March 2017 by data-analysis company CB Insights, investment in HR tech jumped from $400 million in 2012 to $2.2 billion in 2016, with some of the world’s leading investors, including American venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz, 500 Startups and Greycroft, already involved.

In Israel, HR tech is still at its early stages but the country’s already developed AI, machine learning, and big data industries create a golden opportunity for it to become a leader in the field, which is expected to grow into a $107 billion market by 2020.

Around 50 HR tech companies are currently active in Israel, two of which, Hi Bob Ltd. and Workey Employees Recruitments Ltd., recently finished investment rounds of millions of dollars each.

HR tech requires experts with advanced degrees in software, computer sciences, mathematics and statistics, and the shortage in such skilled workers is currently the main obstacle standing in the way of Israel becoming a significant force in this rising field. Collaboration between academia and leading tech companies to draw students to the vocation could help tip the scale.

Avi Golan is a VP Engineering and GM of the Israeli development center of ZipRecruiter, a U.S.-based HR tech company that leverages AI technologies in its marketplace to match between employers and potential employees.