The Russia-Ukraine War is having an impact on the local real estate market: Real Estate Today has discovered that due to the fighting in Europe, 850 Ukrainian workers who were supposed to be shipped to Israel will stay home. These workers were supposed to join 2,500 Ukrainian workers who are already in Israel and are part of the construction sector.
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Notably, Ukraine and Moldova have become the two main sources of construction workers for Israel, and fears of tension with Moldova, which, according to estimations, may become the next theater of a Russian invasion, are being felt among the workforce in Israel. The developments will undoubtedly negatively impact the available manpower in the construction sector, causing a lack of workers. Following the bilateral agreements, Chinese workers, too, are no longer arriving to work in Israel.
Due to the lack of workers from Chinese and Ukraine, the Israeli government is currently examining the possibility of shipping construction workers from Vietnam and Nepal.
Real Estate today has also learned that hundreds of Ukrainian workers already in Israel have been asking their employers to allow them to return home in order to fight alongside their compatriots and protect their families. Indeed, some migrant workers have already gone to Poland in order to try and enter Ukraine.
"My family is in Odessa," says Vlad, a construction worker in Modi'in. "I send them money every month, but now it's no longer a financial issue. I asked my employer to go home to fight the Russians and take care of my family."
Employment centers in Israel have been receiving two main types of inquiries from Ukrainian workers: some are asking to go home to participate in the war and protect their homeland, and others are worried about the transfer of money to their families. Others have completed their work periods and gone home, and are asking to release their initial deposit earlier than scheduled so they can transfer it to Ukraine.
There are also workers who were on vacation in Ukraine and are now "stuck" there.
Arnon Mantver, Chairman of the Center for International Migration and Integration, responded to the situation, saying: "This uncertainty requires expanding the bilateral agreements in the field of construction to include other countries and accelerating the efforts to find and train skilled manpower from abroad in the construction professions."
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A month ago, Real Estate Today reported that an Israeli delegation led by the Population and Immigration Authority arrived in Ukraine in order to recruit hundreds of construction workers to work in Israel. The delegates held a series of meetings with the government employment bureau and local representatives and attended the worker selection process, in which about 850 candidates from Ukraine passed the examination. They were supposed to arrive in Israel; now, however, their future is unclear.
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