The Israeli Electric Company announced a new line of specially designed work uniforms for secular and Haredi women in the electric fields. The uniforms were created by Irit Brender, a designer who specializes in brand uniform fashion, with guidance from IEC safety personnel. The uniforms are made from soft denim fabric, with options for overalls for non-observant and a skirt for religious electricians. The sets include light, flexible shoes.
This is the first known design effort by a major Israeli corporation to accommodate Haredi women who are hitting the job market having acquired marketable skills. The uniform can be worn over the worker’s street clothes, and it offers maximum safety. According to IEC, appropriate dress uniform was high on the list of needs new Haredi employees mentioned as being essential to becoming integrated at work.
Over the past few years, a growing number of women, some of them Haredi, have been integrated in professions that used to be for men only, such as grid workers, electricians, and mechanics. The change in hiring was part of the new IEC management policy, which offers equal opportunities to women in every one of the company’s professions.
The IEC is interested in hiring more women for its core professions, to change the gender mix which today still stands at 80% men versus only 20% women. A job fair that was run by IEC last week yielded 130 applications from women candidates.