An understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) is now the most sought-after attribute in Israel\u2019s high-tech workspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s according to a Skills Index Survey of 150 managers, commissioned by Afeka Academic College of Engineering in Tel Aviv, and Hebrew-language business newspaper TheMarker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The managers were asked to score a range of the most desirable skills for themselves and their employees \u2013 and the ability to work with AI programs came out on top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same survey carried out last year ranked creative thinking in the number one position, ahead of previous experience or a relevant academic degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than half (55%) the high-tech managers questioned this year said familiarizing themselves with AI was their top priority, compared with 35% last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critical thinking and the ability to solve complex problems \u2014 both qualities associated with the use of AI \u2014 came in second and third place, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The increasing emphasis on AI comes as the war in Gaza drags on and many workers are away from the office serving in the IDF reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mental resilience also appears high on the list of managers\u2019 priorities. Last year it wasn\u2019t even mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afeka holds an annual Skills&Tech conference, addressing Israel\u2019s need to cultivate a highly skilled workforce to maintain its status as a global technology leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA crisis is a threat, but it\u2019s also an opportunity,\u201d he told delegates at the event, held at EAST-TLV, in Tel Aviv, on July 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHigh-tech has been the engine of this economy for the past decade. It\u2019s responsible for 53% of our exports, but only 10% of our workforce is part of this industry,\u201d Regev said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThink 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prof. Ami Moyal, president of Afeka College, said: \u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith these soft skills, you\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
n understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) is now the most sought-after attribute in Israel\u2019s high-tech workspace.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s according to a Skills Index Survey of 150 managers, commissioned by Afeka Academic College of Engineering in Tel Aviv, and Hebrew-language business newspaper TheMarker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.gfxpixels.net\/zengernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.gfxpixels.net\/zengernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.gfxpixels.net\/zengernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.gfxpixels.net\/zengernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.gfxpixels.net\/zengernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2941"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web.gfxpixels.net\/zengernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3575,"href":"https:\/\/web.gfxpixels.net\/zengernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2941\/revisions\/3575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.gfxpixels.net\/zengernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.gfxpixels.net\/zengernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.gfxpixels.net\/zengernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.gfxpixels.net\/zengernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}