Lack of local help
Maid in Israel
Dozens of agencies offering local household help are cropping up all over the country
TEL AVIV - The mass deportation of foreign workers by immigration authorities has created a revolution in the maid service industry that is being felt in households throughout the country.
"Finding a maid these days is harder than finding a Chinese-speaking doctor," says Zeev Avni, director of AT-Status, a company that provides cleaning services to private homes and office buildings.
Foreign workers have dominated the local cleaning industry in recent years, and their work was well regarded, even though most did not have legal status.
Most people in the cleaning industry say the field is lacking in manpower. However, Isabel Bichler of Tohar, a company that specializes in providing maids for private homes, says new employees are already taking the foreign workers' place.
"Women who have worked mainly in lower-level jobs, such as secretaries, or even in the high-tech profession fields, have discovered they can earn a living - even a nice one - while working as maids," she says. "They started cleaning their neighbors' homes, realized it is not as bad as it is made out to be, and that the pay is double the minimum wage."
However, finding a cleaning lady is not the only issue that has surfaced since many foreign workers were forced to leave the country.
Bedek Bait, a company specializing in data services and property evaluation, found that maid service rates have increased from the NIS 30 an hour average (about $6.70) of eight months ago to the current average of NIS 35 an hour (about $7.80) and more.
Bedek Bait Marketing Director Shir Hasfari says rumors regarding exaggerated rates in affluent neighborhoods are false.
"Our findings show the rumor that some households pay NIS 55 an hour (about $12) is unfounded," she says.
Bedek Bait's findings showed many well-to-do households still employ foreign workers, despite the immigration police's efforts to apprehend them. The maid shortage is being felt in middle-class and upper middle-class neighborhoods more so than in wealthy areas.
According to the findings, the cheapest maid service rates are offered in Eilat (NIS 25 an hour, or about $5.60), while the highest rates are offered in Beit Zayit, an upscale village just west of Jerusalem.
