At least 20 percent of all workers in government ministries are employed through outside contractors or special contracts and are not considered state employees. This is at least double the proportion in European countries.

The above information is included in a report by the Central Bureau of Statistics, which was commissioned by MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor) for the Knesset. According to the report, the percentage of employees in each ministry who are not state employees ranges from 8 percent to 35 percent, and the arrangement is often a longstanding one. For example, 75 percent of the computer personnel in the Education Ministry have worked there for over five years, as have all 54 outsourced employees at the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry.

The report is based on figures provided by 10 of the 17 ministries to which researcher Michal Tabibian-Mizrahi turned to for information. Her request came after it was discovered that the Civil Service Commission (CSS) had no information on the number of such employees, the terms of their employment or the costs associated with their employment, despite a cabinet resolution passed 10 years ago requiring every ministry to report this information to the CSS every six months.