Here’s the full list of 13 qualities managers were asked to rank: Mental fortitude; experience working with AI programs; leadership; emotional intelligence; critical thinking; written and verbal communication skills; proactivity motivation; creative thinking; ability to work in a multidisciplinary environment; ability to work independently; learning independently; and problem-solving.
Afeka holds an annual Skills&Tech conference, addressing Israel’s need to cultivate a highly skilled workforce to maintain its status as a global technology leader.
This year, Google Israel CEO Barak Regev praised the country for its resilience since the October 7 Hamas attacks, and for meeting its goals despite the many challenges of the ensuing war.
“A crisis is a threat, but it’s also an opportunity,” he told delegates at the event, held at EAST-TLV, in Tel Aviv, on July 15.
“High-tech has been the engine of this economy for the past decade. It’s responsible for 53% of our exports, but only 10% of our workforce is part of this industry,” Regev said.
“Think about the possibilities if we increase that to 15%. We veered into that direction a few years ago, but at the end of 2021 we reached a glass ceiling in the market. There were 40,000 to 70,000 unfilled jobs in the industry.”
Prof. Ami Moyal, president of Afeka College, said: “The need for basic skills such as critical and creative thinking remains a priority and even has gone up in terms of importance since last year. That is because those are the very skills needed to fully leverage AI tools.
“With these soft skills, you’re seeing a repeat demand for employees who are able to think critically, learn independently, and value teamwork. The need for skilled engineers who can innovate and develop cutting-edge technologies with transformative impact has never been greater.”
Produced in association with ISRAEL21c
