Singapore. New York. Beijing. Tel Aviv. London. Tokyo. The biggest tech hubs in the world have one thing in common: tech talent. With the pandemic catalyzing explosive growth in a steadily emerging industry during the age of the remote worker, tech has never been more rewarding than sourcing talent beyond your typical talent pool—and beyond borders. Human resource recruitment of talent in tech is on fire at a global level, and it won’t be long before the powerhouse Latin America is set aflame.
According to Seneca One, a tech hub is a “community that promotes innovation for technology-based companies”. It’s a place where technology talent, investors, educators, and companies can thrive, contributing to a larger tech ecosystem that creates solutions for everyday problems with technology. And we know a place.
A Regional Hiring Boom
“It’s exploding,” says Pepe Villatoro, Deel’s regional head of expansion. “The war for talent is not only with U.S. companies hiring in Latin America, but also Latin American companies more and more in Brazil and Mexico, and in Colombia and Argentina as well.”
That’s in part to a spike in start-up tech companies locally who received record investments, further encouraging regional innovation. By the end of 2021, at least 37 privately held, venture-backed tech companies crossed that magical $1 billion USD valuation. Indeed, these ‘unicorns’ are driving an unprecedented demand and showing the world that Latin America is a serious investment destination.
Not only did local demand skyrocket, but foreign recruitment of tech talent in Latin America more than doubled also: the second half of 2021* saw 156% more hires in Latin America than anywhere else in the world. So while roughly two-thirds of today’s Latin American unicorns are based in Brazil, data indicates other countries are catching up. In the Dominican Republic and Argentina alone, the number of new hires as contractors grew by more than 200% alone, according to data by Bloomberg.
At Maracuya Consulting, our remote recruitment team has seen that demand for high-skilled talent in Latin America, first-hand, translate into direct career bridges. The growth rate of hiring across Latin America for positions like software engineer and account executive has increased by 286% in the second half of 2021, more than in any other region in the world, according to reports.
Most of the new hires are located in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, but competitive wages are also making companies take a closer look at Peru, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. But when we talk about tech talent, why are we talking about LATAM?
What Sets Tech Talent In LATAM Apart From The World
Language
To put it lightly, the cultural overlap of Latin America with North America and Europe is absolutely overwhelming—in all the best ways possible. Besides being fluent in the latest technologies, Latin American team members are also highly proficient in English, making it far easier to communicate and collaborate with development teams.
Streamlined operations
Not to mention overlaps in time zones, which even aligns to-the-hour in the case of US Central Time and US Eastern Time. Recruiting tech talent in Latin America means your team can continue to operate in a highly diverse timeframe, without any communication or operational issues.
Highly-skilled and widely educated
For companies seeking to keep costs down without sacrificing the quality of work, hiring highly-trained yet affordable engineers is not a fluke—it’s practically a guarantee in Latin America. Brazil, the number one user of internet in LATAM, actually sees 475,000 tech graduates per year from world leading universities like Universidade de São Paulo and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Indeed, the region honors a deep commitment to education, in the form of free tertiary schooling too, for a sharp rise in young, innovative tech talent.
Efficiency
Besides tax incentives and government support in Latin America, your company is directly connected to a high proportion of ambitious entrepreneurs. The demand for skilled IT people ‘on the ground’ has seen huge recruitment surges in numerous countries with each passing year, solely expedited by the pandemic. As a result, Latam tech workers are so adaptable and creative, as they have experienced a fast-paced innovative environment during their careers. In turn, the tech-savvy workforce of Latam is resilient and solution-oriented for increased efficiency.
Now, It’s Time To Find The Right Recruitment Partner
With no precedent for such large-scale interruption, COVID broke the one hindrance for tapping into tech talent in Latin America: physical borders. The pandemic-induced shift to remote work paid off big time for LATAM, expanding the tech industry dramatically in the last 12 months for Latin America to create more than 4,500 jobs in the region. As a new epicenter, this plethora of tech stack expertise and IT knowledge in Latin America means global organizations can remotely recruit and create experienced and diverse teams. Now, it’s time to find the right recruitment partner. Let Maracuya Consulting help.
