Economic Basis

Until a few years ago, agriculture and outside salaries were the economic pillars of Ketura. Today, our focus is creative economic thought and entrepreneurship in any field in which someone expresses an interest. This has opened up a wide variety of interesting employment with good, stable incomes.

We are continually increasing profitability and cutting costs in our established businesses, while vigorously seeking new ones. When a new business is suggested, the kibbutz performs a thorough check of the economic viablity of that business. It goes without saying that once a business has been approved, the kibbutz fully stands behind the endeavor.

Professional skills are becoming more important, and kibbutz members have started new businesses in areas such as technical writing and web design and management consulting for small businesses (for more information on the kibbutz businesses, click Kibbutz Businesses on the menu).

The essence of work on kibbutz is that it is voluntary. Everyone receives the same amount of money, regardless of the type of work or amount of hours spent at work. The members are thus motivated by conscience, responsibility, and peer pressure, rather than personal economic gain.

We believe that work should both advance the financial status of Ketura, and be personally gratifying to people, allowing everyone to be aware of how they can contribute to the community.

The work structure is divided into production and service branches. The production branches strive to reduce costs and increase profits, while the service branches strive to maintain a decent level of service within budgetary and labor constraints. While certain jobs are short-term or rotational, many members work in the same branch for years.

Many members also work outside the kibbutz, and use their professional education to provide services in fields such as accounting or computing to neighboring communities, or to teach at the regional school or to be social workers in Eilat. We take pride, too, in our varied and gifted service professionals. At Ketura, for example, in addition to the usual service jobs, we have a carpentry shop and a garage. All of the children, from the youngest to the oldest benefit from warm and nurturing caretaking. The dedicated and talented landscaping crew has added much to Ketura's beauty, and thus to the quality of life here.

While the possible employment opportunities are constantly changing, the following is a representative list of current kibbutz Ketura work places:

Agriculture: Dates, dairy cows, desert agriculture

Outside salaries: Ardom – Date packing plant co-operatively owned by all the regional kibbutzim, Yechidat HaMachshev - regional mobile computer repair unit that attends to both hardware and software problems, Moetza - regional council, Ma'ale Shacharut - regional school, Tachana HaNissionot - agricultural research and development center, Ardag – cooperatively owned fish farm in the Gulf of Eilat

Entrepreneurship:AIES – academic environmental program for Israelis and non-Israelis and the first in the country with students from Arab countries, Keren Kolot - educational tourism based on Jewish studies with a pluralistic approach. Seminars include desert, environmental and kibbutz studies. Textstore - technical writing and internet services, Insight - economic consulting firm (see Kibbutz Businesses for more examples of Ketura entrepreneurship)

Service branches: Carpentry shop, garage, gardening, laundry, dining room, pre-school education, after-school education

Ketura is guided by the traditional kibbutz principle that money is collectively earned ("from each according to his abilities") and spent ("to each according to his needs"). There is no association between work done and money received.

Many kibbutzim today have abandoned this principle; how money is earned, and how it is divided up varies greatly between kibbutzim. For instance, some kibbutzim have differential salaries, where workers in the different branches receive different salaries. Some kibbutzim have "bonus points" that earn members extra money or services for specific work done.

On Ketura, every member earns the same amount, regardless of the type of work done or number of hours worked, and no special bonuses exist.