The economic recession continues to spiral downward in Israel, and the southern region is being hit very hard.
A survey revealed on Monday that 58 percent of Negev factories plan to lay off workers during the first quarter of 2009. The 7,100 factories which employ 39,500 workers reported that they would lay off 6.3 percent of the workforce, or 2,500 workers.
The survey was conducted for the Israel Manufacturers Association and was supervised by the head of its Negev office, Arnon Kashanski.
In detail, 15 percent of the factories said they would lay off up to 15 percent of their workers. Another 15 percent said they would lay off 10 percent of their workers, and 70 percent said they would lay off 5 percent of their workers.
In addition, 60 percent of the factories said they would reduce work hours on factory lines by an average of 16 percent a day. Eighty percent said they had experienced a dramatic decrease of 25 percent of their sales in Israel, and 26 percent of their exports. Also, 70 percent of the factories said they would reduce managers’ salaries by an average of 11 percent as well.