Nearshoring boosts tech talent demand in LatAm
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — Western firms’ growing interest in nearshoring is increasing the demand for tech talent in Latin America.
Nearshoring refers to hiring or outsourcing workers in countries closer to a company’s headquarters than in other locations like Asia.
Companies like the mobile shopping platform Fetch moved 10% of their engineering team to Argentina, Brazil, and Peru. Similarly, human resources firm Deel Inc. helped around 3,000 U.S.-based companies hire Latin American workers in the first quarter of 2023.
This move is happening while layoffs dominate headlines in the United States (U.S.) and high-interest rates increase fears of a recession. About 760 global corporations have slashed more than half a million jobs since October 2022, with the technology sector accounting for about 149,000 jobs lost.
Latin America is benefiting from the trend towards nearshoring, resulting in new factories built by U.S. companies along the Mexican border.
Companies looking to hire can also benefit from the recent slowdown in the regional venture capital industry, resulting in a large pool of experienced workers laid off from unicorns and now available for remote work.
However, a Bloomberg article pointed out that the region produces fewer engineers and tech talent yearly than an IT outsourcing hub such as India.
Marcelo Wurmann, Latin America head of tech giant TCS, said that employment services in the region should collaborate with local universities and technical schools to learn in advance the profiles of students in the pipeline.
