When there are countries in conflict, the demand for talent from Latam skyrockets to fill critical positions that can be decisive, it is no secret that the wars of the 21st century will rely, more than on weapons, on technology.
Wars are technology hotbeds (we already saw this in the Gulf War in 1991), and talent is needed to develop them. Let’s see Latin America’s role in this aspect and how it faces this challenge.
Demand for Latam talents – The key roles
There is currently a high demand for talent from Latam due to the speed with which technology advances. The transformation in the sector is such that more personnel with solid digital skills are required. However, there are some limitations: the shortage of this type of talent is around 50%.
Despite this, countries immersed in war conflicts or in an arms race have turned their eyes towards Latin America. Technology adoption and digitalization in companies have been overgrown.
According to the IDB, 79% of organizations have not filled their vacancies in the digital sector. The direct consequence has been an explosive demand for people with digital skills. In that sense:
• Digital employment grows. According to Forbes, the number of companies seeking technological talent in the region, specifically software engineers, has increased by 156%.
• Investing in technology. According to the IDC, a 12% growth in so-called enterprise technologies, such as cloud services, network and storage design, as well as professional services in this part of the world, is expected by the end of this year, 2023.
• New Startups are born. CBInsights revealed growth in 2021 in the startup sector. Latam received more than $14 billion in investments in that period, exceeding what was invested in 2020 by 174%.
The boom is unstoppable, and there is still no ceiling in sight.
What are they looking for?
The talent shortage in the face of the technological boom in Latin America has been decreasing because work is being done on it. The indicators were clear:
- 64% of managers in Latam acknowledged having had difficulties in their technological projects due to a lack of skills among those responsible.*
- 51% revealed major deficits in data analysis skills.*
- 40% detected poor preparation in both programming and software development.*
- 73% recognized that the most significant difficulty was talent. (According to a Harvard Business Review study).
- Specifically in Mexico, 57% of organizations were in the process of expanding their technological workforce. (Study directed by Experis México).
*According to a survey carried out by the IDB in 2021.
How to address this challenge
Projections for 2023 indicate explosive growth in the technology sector. Therefore, the key is to develop suitable profiles in digital economies. The accelerated development of technology, mainly in countries immersed in war conflicts, increases the demand for technological profiles.
In this way, universities are already developing the next generation that tech companies will seek. The demand for technological personnel has grown in 2023, providing excellent opportunities in the following areas:
- Software Engineering.
- Full-stack development.
- Data science.
Additionally, security is of primary importance, with information protection being a core issue. There is a high demand for knowledge in:
- Secure networks.
- Risk controls.
- Codifications.
The boost of artificial intelligence in task automation deserves special mention. This includes the development of robots driven by this kind of intelligence.
Training is underway
Thanks to the support of universities, the demand for Latam talent in the digital sector will continue to rise. We are on the right path to remain the technological hotbed of the world.
