Imagine sipping your morning coffee in Tel Aviv while your neighbors hustle off to work—and you’re just getting started on your me time. No commute. No meetings. No emails blowing up your phone. That’s the quiet luxury of working American hours in Israel: a schedule that starts in the afternoon and stretches into the night. But while it might sound like a dream, this upside-down workday comes with its own quirks and compromises. Here’s a look at the pros and cons of syncing your 9-to-5 with someone else’s time zone.
Keep your mornings free
Free mornings means that you can run errands, work out, take care of your kids or just wake up a little later. You can focus on a personal project, study something new or do some freelancing work. Meet a friend for coffee, take your spouse out for breakfast or read a book without interruption.
But give up your evenings
Israeli social life is built around the premise that you have evenings free. Working American hours may prevent you from getting drinks with friends, going to weddings and bar mitzvahs or attending classes or shiurim. You’ll also have issues with parent-teacher conferences and doctors appointments that can’t be scheduled in the morning.
Free Sundays
One of the most common complaints olim have about life in Israel is that there are no Sundays to relax and have fun. Free Sundays means you have time to take care of things you couldn’t get done during the week and enjoy spending time with people you care about (assuming their schedule allows for it).
But you’ll work on Friday
American hours are likely to include a full workday on Friday. This can get in the way of preparing for Shabbat, and even, in the winter months, conflict with Shabbat itself. Because so many Israelis don’t work on Fridays, you may find yourself missing family get-togethers and simchas.
Avoid rush hour
You’ll be one of the few lucky Israelis who don’t have to fight traffic in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem in the morning. You’ll either be working from home or commuting to the office and back at times when the roads are much calmer and the buses and trains are emptier.
But disrupt your sleep schedule
When you finally finish work at midnight, it will probably take some time to wind down and get to sleep. That’s not too bad if you can sleep in the next day, but if you have kids or other responsibilities that require waking up early, there’s a good chance you’ll be perpetually exhausted.
Work for an American company
Some Israelis work American hours for Israeli companies whose clients are located in the United States. But the reason most olim are on this schedule is because they are working for an American company, possibly in the same job they had before making aliyah. There are many advantages to doing this, including a higher salary, easier transition to life in Israel and the convenience of working in English.
But you’ll have to deal with bureaucracy
Working for an American company comes with some bureaucratic complications that must be dealt with. The company can’t hire you on a W-2 because that means tax liability for them, but you still need to pay taxes to the Israeli government. That leaves you with three options:
- Become an Israeli freelancer and bill the American company as a client – This comes with reporting requirements to the Israeli government and Social Security payments to the US government as a self-employed person.
- Open an Israeli company (Ba’am) – You won’t have to pay Social Security, but reporting to the Israeli government is more complicated and more expensive.
- Use the services of an Employer of Record – You’ll officially be an employee of an Israeli company, so you’ll be exempt from Social Security and reporting, but will have to pay a fee to the EOR.
Working American hours in Israel is all about trade-offs. You gain slow mornings, global opportunities and a break from the usual Israeli work schedule, but you also risk missing out on simchas, get-togethers and a regular sleep schedule. Whether it’s a smart lifestyle hack or a social isolation trap depends on your personality and your priorities.
