• Demand for staff soars 244% over previous year
  • Post-pandemic hiring slowdown expected in 2022
  • Hybrid work model dominates post-pandemic workplaces
  • Job openings at OurCrowd companies rise by 244% over 12-month period
  • 65% of companies plan to scale back hiring in 2022
  • Majority of OurCrowd startups expect hybrid work model to continue
  • Pandemic negatively impacted many startups’ physical expansion plans
  • First OurCrowd virtual job fair to take place in Jan 2022

JERUSALEM, Nov. 30, 2021 – OurCrowd, Israel’s most active venture firm, today released its Q3 2021 Our Crowd High-Tech Jobs Index revealing that despite robust hiring across the industry over the past 12 months, companies are predicting a recruitment slowdown in 2022.

OurCrowd portfolio companies showed strong demand for new hires with a 244% year- on-year increase in the number of jobs advertised from Q3 2020 to Q3 2021. In a survey, 65% of OurCrowd startups said they had hired more aggressively in this past quarter, but the same proportion of 65% say they will scale back hiring to key positions only in 2022.

This is the fourth quarterly high-tech jobs survey by Jerusalem-based OurCrowd, the world’s largest venture investing platform and Israel’s most active investor.

The daily number of vacancies posted by portfolio companies in OurCrowd’s Portfolio Jobs site continues to rise. During Q3 2021, an average of 47 new vacancies were added every day compared to 31 each day during the previous quarter, a 52% jump. Software engineering remains the most in-demand skill with 20% of current openings. Business development in second place with 13% and Operations in third with 11%.

The Covid-19 pandemic has left a lasting impact on the workplace, even as restrictions are lifted in many countries. The trend of hybrid working looks set to be a permanent fixture with 84% of companies surveyed saying their employees are partially working from home. The overwhelming majority, 81%, expect that to continue in 2022.

“We are increasing our hiring in R&D and sales. We moved to a hybrid model from complete working from home with new offices,” says Kfir Kimhi, CEO of ItsMine.

“We are adjusting to working remotely,” says Ravit Menachem, HR and Office Manager at D-ID.

Remote work is also opening doors for candidates living in the periphery with more than a quarter of portfolio companies based in the center of Israel saying they are hiring more staff from beyond the main high-tech corridor between Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa.

“It is encouraging to see that startups continue to tap the considerable talent pool in the periphery. As we see this trend taking hold, those same companies are also content in letting staff members from the periphery work from home, saving them the long commute to the office and increasing their overall productivity,” says Laly David, OurCrowd Partner and Head of Business Development. “The tech industry is leading the way to what might lead to a permanent change in the employment landscape in Israel.”

The pandemic also had a negative impact on certain aspects of growth, with 43% of companies surveyed reporting their plans to physically expand their business, such as adding office space, or storage facilities, had been affected.

With the increased demand for quality candidates coming from its portfolio companies, OurCrowd will hold its first virtual job fair in January in partnership with Nefesh B’Nefesh and TLV Internationals. The event will introduce jobseekers to the startup ecosystem in Israel, feature expert insights from industry leaders, and offer 1:1 speed interviewing with HR representatives from selected high-tech companies currently hiring.

Read the full OurCrowd Quarterly High-Tech Jobs Index HERE.

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About OurCrowd: OurCrowd is the online global venture investing platform that empowers institutions and individual accredited investors to invest and engage in emerging technology

companies before they go public. Acclaimed by Pitchbook as the most active venture investor in Israel, OurCrowd vets and selects companies across all sectors and stages, invests its own capital, and provides its global platform of over 160,000 registered members from 195 countries with unparalleled access and freedom to co-invest from as little as $10,000 in the companies and funds of their choice. Founded by CEO Jon Medved in 2013 with the vision of democratizing world-class venture capital investing, OurCrowd has grown rapidly into the world’s leading online venture investing platform and as of 2021 has received over $1.8 billion in commitments and has deployed capital into more than 280 portfolio companies and 30 funds across five continents. To date, OurCrowd’s startups have recorded 50 exits including several stock market listings: Beyond Meat, Lemonade, Innoviz, Hub Security; and numerous high- profile acquisitions: JUMP by Uber, BriefCam by Canon, Argus by Continental, Crosswise by Oracle, Replay by Intel, Corephotonics by Samsung, CyberX by Microsoft, and Kenna Security by Cisco. OurCrowd builds value for its portfolio companies throughout their lifecycles, providing mentorship, recruiting industry advisors, navigating follow-on rounds and creating growth opportunities through its network of multinational partnerships. For more information visit trust.ocdvlp.com.

PRESS CONTACT: OurCrowd: Leah Stern, Partner, Global Communications / Europe: +44 747 0196826 / E: leah@ourcrowd.com