[img]96|left|Shachar||no_popup[/img] Dateline Jerusalem — I often wonder if American attorneys working in the U.S. are being taken advantage of by those same American firms that outsource their work to American attorneys in Israel.
When I first came to Israel, I thought the American company I was working for was paying me slave wages because my hourly rate doing legal document review and litigation support was less than what I used to pay my receptionist in the States.
To my surprise, it was considered a decent salary in Israel. I must admit that I was fortunate enough to obtain work almost immediately upon my arrival. Although in retrospect, perhaps had I waited to work, I would have availed myself of the 5-month, 5 days a week, 5 hours a day Ulpan program and learned Hebrew. Now I have no job and know no Hebrew.
Happy to Have a Job — Almost Any Job
American companies outsourcing to India and the Philippines is a commonplace occurrence, and a good investment, because the people working there actually work for pennies. They might speak English, but they do not have the same legal knowledge and skills regarding American law as American-trained attorneys.
Outsourcing to Israel is different in that the attorneys doing litigation support for American companies here are, for the most part, required to be U.S. trained and licensed, and in some cases still active members of their state bars. The American firms might have to pay American attorneys in Israel more than they pay Indian and Filipino attorneys (but less than they would pay the same attorneys in the States), but they are getting more for their dollar, or shekel, as it were. And we are only too happy to have a job in Israel that doesn't require Hebrew. Actually, we are only too happy to have a job.
Since the Jerusalem office of the American firm I worked for the last year closed its doors as of September, I have been one of the “lucky” ones to have been offered work. Most of the time my colleagues and I sit glued to our home computers sending off resumes, joining job networking groups, going to headhunters and job fairs, or resorting to sending each other jokes because we have nothing better to do with our time.
v I have been on several interviews, have been offered every position I applied for, and have turned them all down. Why, you ask?
Why I Turn Down Offers
v My daughter tells me I should accept any work I can get to help pay my bills. I normally would agree, but if the full time job (42 1/2 hours a week in Israel) pays only $40 a month ( I am talking $40 a month, not $40 an hour) or pays by the page at a rate of less than 50 cents a page, then I cannot pay my bills anyway. Perhaps I am spoiled. But how can I look for a decent paying fulltime position if I am spending all my time working jobs that won't even cover the cost of having an internet connection required for the job?
There used to be several American firms outsourcing to Americans in Israel, and not just in the field of law. Most of those American firms have also closed their Israel offices because it no longer pays for them to outsource abroad when they can get Americans living in the U.S. to work for the same slave wages we were getting paid here. Rumor has it that the economy is so bad in the States and the unemployment rate is so high, Americans are willing to work for anything just to have a job.
But I have few complaints. Since I have nothing but time, I am able to take advantage of the scenery in this beautiful country. I take comfortable buses and trains to various destinations, I meet interesting people from all over the world, and I enjoy every minute of living in Israel
L'hitraot. Shachar.
Shachar is the Hebrew name of a California-based attorney and former Los Angeles County deputy sheriff who moved to Israel two years ago.
