Shlomo Rosen, the retiring Minister of Absorption, warned today of increasing employment difficulties for new immigrants unless the government undertakes programs to provide them with jobs. He said housing, employment and other assistance should be based on an annual immigration rate of at least 50,000 so that whatever number actually arrived would be adequately provided for.
Rosen, a member of the Mapam wing of the Labor Alignment, said the shortage of productive employment for olim stemmed from the slowdown of the economy and budgetary cutbacks by public institutions that hired professionals. “Instead of the economy suiting itself to the human treasure provided by aliya, we have had to put great efforts into suiting the olim to the economy,” he said.
Rosen, who took charge of the Housing Ministry after the suicide of Avraham Ofer last March, said that a sufficient number of flats of various sizes should be made available for olim. He said that all new immigrants who are not employed within a short time after their arrival should be given unemployment benefits from the National Insurance Institute until they find work.
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