Ely Cole, a 25-year-old accountant from Columbus, Ohio, says he always dreamed of moving to Israel but worried about leaving his high-paying New York job before he'd established a career for himself.
Now, that job is gone, and Cole is on his way to the Jewish state, joining a wave of returning Israelis and new immigrants fleeing the dismal economic outlook in the US.
"It's a bit of a relief to be laid off instead of quitting - I'm not second-guessing myself," said Cole, who was let go two weeks ago from a New York hedge fund. "Having the push is beneficial."
Cole will join his sister, who made aliya last year, and begin looking for work in either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem once he has completed ulpan.
Cole was among more than a half-million Americans who lost their jobs last month, and economists predict that three million more could be unemployed in the coming year.
The job losses, initially centered in the hard-hit financial industry, are beginning to spread through the economy, touching everyone from lawyers to book publishers to independent business owners whose holiday sales expectations have nearly evaporated.
When pressed what opportunities they hoped to find in Israel, considering that the economic crisis is also affecting Israel and could get worse there, they did not mention specific job plans but expressed optimism that something would work out.[...]
Nefesh Bnefesh has reported the same, an abundance of calls interested in aliyah since the summer. This is the first year that there will be a winter aliyah flight to Israel. In the past the two biggest complaints holding up aliyah have been job opportunities and education for children. Now that the US is not providing the jov opportunities, complaint #1 has disappeared.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hashem wants his children to return home, any strategy will be exerted, this global crisis is the strategy of the day!!! If this doesnt work what will Hashem try next..... (get u thinking)..