The importance of providing jobs for academicians and college graduates, particularly those who are recent immigrants, was stressed by two Cabinet ministers here. Deputy Premier Yigal Allon who is Minister of Education and Culture, told the 35th annual meeting of the Hebrew University Board of Governors last night that Israeli universities must engage in more planning to assure graduates of jobs after they complete their education. He said that while it is “very unlikely” that any large number of graduates will find themselves without jobs in the near future, “it would be a great pity if any young man experienced the disappointment of not obtaining work after he gets his first degree.”
Allon said it would be “most unfortunate if any new immigrant academician left the country after discovering that we weren’t prepared to absorb him.” Absorption Minister Natan Peled addressed the Knesset in a similar vein Monday. He warned that college graduates arriving in Israel must be able to find jobs in their fields or else the prospects for large-scale immigration will diminish. Peled noted that many white collar professions will soon be saturated. He said that a number of potential immigrants from the West had decided recently against coming to Israel after learning that no suitable jobs were available for them. Employers and investors should be given incentives to employ college graduates and Job-making programs should be undertaken, he said. Peled disclosed that of 200,000 immigrants who arrived in Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War, 25,000 have since left.
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