The widening tech skills gap: a global crisis in need of solutions

This article is part of our Opinions section

In today’s competitive business landscape, attracting top talent is a constant struggle for many leaders. Especially in the tech sector. A recent survey found that a staggering 64% of businesses say that candidates for their IT and tech jobs lack the necessary skills or experience. This can lead to higher costs, stunted growth and a weakened ability to adapt to market changes.

The problem intensifies within sub-sectors. Healthcare technology, for example, faces a particularly acute talent shortage. While large-scale solutions like industry-wide upskilling programs and educational reforms are crucial for the long term, they won’t solve the immediate need for talent. Many companies are stuck between a rock and a hard place: waiting for a systemic shift in the talent pool or sacrificing growth due to a lack of qualified personnel.

However, a potential solution exists that can bridge this gap. By embracing innovative work models, specifically the rise of global remote teams, companies can unlock a world of possibilities. The vast pool of qualified individuals in regions like Latin America, Africa and the subcontinent represents a largely untapped resource. With the right strategy, companies can solve their skill shortages using this talent pool – and potentially gain a competitive edge through a more diverse and innovative workforce.

Latin America: a land of opportunity

Let’s examine Latin America specifically. According to software developer N-iX, there are currently two million people working in the tech industry with 50 companies at unicorn status. Looking more broadly at the economy, Statista reports there are approximately 500,000 software developers in Brazil, 220,000 in Mexico and 115,000 in Argentina.

While concrete figures on the number of data scientists are harder to come by, research by Coursera shows that Latin American countries are leading the way in training the next generation of specialists. The report found that Latin American students are 2.4 times more likely to invest in data science and programming skills than the global average.

Want more evidence? 20% of Mexican college graduates have relevant engineering degrees, amounting to over 110,000 per year, far in excess of the U.S. Nearly every metric points towards Latin America’s tech scene thriving, powered by a wave of young technical specialists. 

The cost of living in Latin America, Africa and the subcontinent is generally substantially lower than in Western nations. While the tech industry is on a clear upward trajectory in these regions, unemployment remains a big factor. The unemployment rate is 32% in South Africa, 8.2% in Brazil, 9% in Chile, 8% in Pakistan and 7.4% in Peru. With the exception of South Africa, these are not eye-watering numbers, but they point to a region that has an excess of affordable talent but not necessarily the jobs to meet demand. 

For businesses. there’s a clear opportunity to look seriously at these regions to tactically recruit at all levels – from back office, administrative and data entry functions through to developers, analysts and genetics experts.

The key is to leverage the ecosystem of technology providers that have grown over the past decade (and been supercharged by the pandemic) that have made this process as seamless as possible. Communication, monitoring, productivity and engagement tools are now readily accessible and affordable. So too are the recruitment and management platforms that can enable a variety of different types of working relationships – from full-time staff to consultants and project-based engagements. 

Beyond the office walls: building a thriving remote team

The mentality of many workers has also radically changed over the past few years, which means creating a remote or fully virtual workforce is much more achievable. People no longer expect all their colleagues to be in office, nor is having a team spread out across the world only the preserve of global corporations. Numerous successful startups, with hundreds of staff, have never had a head office or even met in person. 

However, recruiting and managing a more remote workforce does have pitfalls. To avoid them, you need a thoughtful strategy.

Your chief task is keeping everyone engaged, happy and productive. This means instilling your company’s culture and treating every team member – no matter the nature of their employment or location – as equals. It may also involve reviewing your management practices to ensure that the way you communicate, assess and engage with remote workers adapts accordingly. 

Creating a fully optimised workforce strategy doesn’t mean throwing out everything and starting again. It’s safer to create a plan with achievable, incremental steps that evolve your team into a structure and format that best suits your current and future needs. To do this, consider the following:

• Audit your team’s expertise and management structure to determine potential cost-efficiencies, skill gaps, single points of failure and bottlenecks. Align this with your commercial strategy and client feedback
• Review your tech stack to identify whether you have the tools and processes that fully enable remote and hybrid working. Pay particular attention to employee onboarding, engagement, accountability and productivity
• Consult with your team – what is the optimum working model for each employee? Consider putting every option on the table – transitioning to consulting, part-time, fully remote etc.
• Begin experimenting with new working practices. For example, a pilot project where administrative and other back office functions are executed by virtual workers can be a safe way to get started 
• Talk to businesses that offer remote working recruitment support to get a better idea of the talent out there and how you could hire from different countries
• Review, analyse and optimise – keep track of the impact of your new structure as you make changes and don’t be afraid to change course if the results don’t meet your expectations. Constant monitoring can identify weak points such as an incomplete onboarding process or the need to enhance management practices

Let’s conclude by urging business leaders to shed the limitations of local talent pools and embrace a global perspective. Regions like Latin America, brimming with skilled individuals, are ripe for collaboration.

Advancements in technology and evolving work models have made building remote teams a reality for companies of all sizes. This shift represents not just a solution to the skills gap, but a strategic opportunity.

By incorporating a diverse and geographically dispersed workforce, businesses can unlock a wealth of innovation and propel themselves towards their full growth potential. So, the message is clear: think globally, act strategically, and watch your company thrive in the new talent landscape.

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