Israel Commerce Officials Urge Foreign Labor to Ease Retail Shortages
Supermarket chains in Israel face severe cashier shortages, with thousands of unfilled roles despite high wages. Commerce officials argue foreign workers are essential to fill vacant jobs without harming local employment.
The debate over employing foreign workers in Israel is taking on a new perspective from the commerce sector. Gilat Rubinstein, CEO of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, argues that in certain sectors this is not about replacing Israeli workers, but rather addressing a persistent labor shortage, particularly in supermarket chains where cashier positions remain vacant despite significant recruitment efforts.
Rubinstein contends that the debate is often conducted under the assumption that every foreign worker takes the place of an Israeli. The reality in commerce shows a different picture: the workers simply do not exist locally, and positions remain unfilled for extended periods.
The Crisis at Supermarket Checkouts
Cashier roles in food chains are a prime example. Chains face a continuous shortage of cashiers, which intensifies during weekends, holiday eves, and peak periods when the public relies most heavily on a functioning retail grocery network.
Data gathered from leading food chains indicates that over 20,500 job interviews were conducted during the examined period, yet a shortage of at least 1,170 workers persisted. Some chains offered wages of 37 to 38 NIS per hour, with attempts reaching 40 NIS per hour, alongside retention bonuses exceeding 10,000 NIS and even academic tuition funding, but the shortage remained.
"The reality in commerce shows a different picture: the workers simply do not exist, and the positions remain vacant for long periods of time," says Gilat Rubinstein.
High Turnover and Economic Limits
Difficulty persists even after hiring. At one chain, the average employment duration for a cashier is only about five months. At another, roughly a quarter of departing workers left within the first month, and about 44% within three months, creating a continuous cycle of hiring, training, and departure.
Raising wages further has limits, as it disrupts broader wage scales and impacts low-margin supermarket chains operating in high competition.
International experience, such as in Canada and New Zealand, suggests that employing foreign workers does not crowd out locals, but rather supports sustainable business operations and service continuity.
