Place-IL

Place-IL is a non-profit tech initiative, founded by leaders in the Israeli tech ecosystem, that empowers Israeli tech companies to effectively hire talent from underrepresented populations, at scale and with minimal risk. Place-IL was established by Israeli high-tech executives (entrepreneurs, CEOs, development and technology leaders, multinational companies, investors and venture capital funds), with the aim of enabling large-scale yet high-quality recruitment of populations underrepresented in Israeli high-tech. The NGO was established in March 2022, and created an innovative model that changes the angle of looking at the integration of underrepresented populations in high-tech to one that focuses on the employing companies - and not only as companies, but also as an industry that works together for a common goal. The model developed by Place-IL was developed based on an in-depth analysis of the needs and patterns used in high-tech companies in the recruitment and integration of juniors. The program is designed to solve three major barriers that prevent high-tech companies from recruiting candidates from underrepresented populations on a significant scale: (1) a scattered and unsystematic supply of candidates (coming from academia, training organizations and non-profit organizations); (2) the screening and recruitment methods of the companies that miss the potential inherent in candidates from underrepresented populations; (3) A minority of junior positions - intended for candidates without any work experience in high-tech. Place-IL collects the manpower needs of juniors in the tech industry, locates the relevant candidates and puts them through a careful screening and evaluation process. All these steps are done by the professional team of Place-IL along with a set of volunteers consisting of technological leaders and human resources people and in close partnership with many companies from the tech industry. Only candidates who have passed the entire process successfully (about 10% of the participants) are accepted and placed in companies for the internship program, as a preliminary step to a permanent position. The internship lasts three to six months, during which the participant integrates as a team member at a high-tech company and earns entry-level salary. During this period, Place-IL accompanies the participants and the companies. At the end of the internship period, the company can offer the candidate to be hired as a permanent employee. If the internship does not end with permanent integration in the company, the participant moves to an additional internship in another company, with the aim of completing a full year of practical experience which is the key to integration into the tech industry leading to social mobility.