Written by: Aaron Katsman | April 15, 2009
Funny how banking was one of the most desired of sectors that Israeli workers wanted to gain employment in. That may be a thing of the past. According to Globes: “Banks include their salary costs in the “human capital” item of their financial reports, which is no wonder considering the extensive capital involved in running them. The aggregate salary cost in the banking system reached NIS 15.2 billion in 2008, and bank employees are traditionally among the best paid workers in the economy. The financial reports explain why.
An examination by “Globes” found, that after five years of continuous growth in the average salary cost at the banks, it actually declined in 2008. The average salary cost of the 48,761 banking system employees was NIS 25,400 last year, down from NIS 26,700 in 2007, not including privatization bonuses and severance packages. The reason for the 5% drop was because most banks did not pay bonuses for 2008 performance.”
With banking and hi-tech showing cuts in pay, what will become the new sector that is desired?
Written by: Zack Miller | January 27, 2009
Anyone who has been to an Israeli bank knows that efficiency is not in the bank’s repertoire. If you enjoy standing in line for seemingly meaningless tasks, spend some time in an Israeli bank. And if you want to move your account to another branch
(even within the same bank), fuhggetaboutit.
So, why are banks so infuriating for customers. Most of it is in the legacy holdovers from the socialist days. There is a lot of paper pushing, waiting and more than anything, decentralization of tasks. Israeli bank branches act somewhat autonomously and processes are duplicated instead of being centralized. That means more jobs and more work for employees.
So, it’s not surprising to see that Bank Hapoalim workers are pushing back on a proposal to streamline the bank, even when no layoffs are on the table.
The workers committee announced, “We oppose the restructuring at the bank and reject the streamlining document written by the bank’s management.”
What’s in store for the bank’s restructuring?
“2009 will be a very tough year in terms of the bank’s revenue. There is a need for streamlining and cost-cutting. Savings and streamlining are not a one-time exertion, but a way of life. We must be careful and calculating over every shekel we spend, and we must pare all unnecessary fat.” — CEO Bank Hapoalim
For a country with an extremely advanced technology backbone underpinning the Israeli banking system, it’s time we get the delivery of service accordingly.
