The great wave of immigration reaches retirement age — Israel's industry is about to pay the price

The Manufacturers Association warns in a special report that tens of thousands of skilled industrial workers, who arrived in Israel during the great wave of immigration from the former USSR, have reached retirement age and are preparing to leave the workforce. These workers are leaving significant gaps in elite professions, where they have been employed since their arrival and have contributed to the prosperity of the economy for decades.

Manufacturers Association President Avraham (Novo) Novogrodsky warned in a conversation with Ynet that the next government must urgently address the situation:

"Successive Israeli governments have gradually neglected technological education and professional training, and today we are all paying the price with a painful shortage of workers in these fields."

The Association's report states that to combat the acute labor shortage, a broad structural program must be promoted. This includes an immediate increase in foreign worker quotas to bridge the bureaucratic gap, alongside directing state resources toward targeted professional training for Israelis. Simultaneously, long-term solutions are required, such as integrating underrepresented populations and providing tax incentives to retain older workers, thereby mitigating the loss of institutional knowledge.

Data and Challenges

Three decades later, a large portion of this demographic is approaching retirement. Former USSR immigrants are significantly overrepresented in the industry:

• While the rate of employed former USSR immigrants aged 55 and over stands at 3.9% in the general economy, it reaches 9.8% in the industry—2.5 times higher.

• Among those aged 60 and over, the rate is 2.5% in the general economy compared to 5.8% in the industry—2.3 times higher.

There are approximately 41,600 employed former USSR immigrants aged 55 and over in the industry, 24,700 of whom are 60 or older. This is not merely a quantitative issue; it is a loss of veteran expertise accumulated over decades. If such workers leave without a structured knowledge transfer process, factories lose both personnel and organizational intelligence. This is simultaneously a labor crisis and a productivity crisis.

"Our national duty now is to come to our senses, change direction, and invest massively in education, artificial intelligence, and the professional horizons of Israel's youth to secure the future of our industry and economy," Novogrodsky stated.