The measure of the Central Bank will allow companies in the knowledge economy be able to access foreign exchange for 50% of its incremental exports, and allocate those dollars to pay up to 20% of workers’ compensation. The Government estimates that the sector has a ddissatisfied emanates from 20 thousand people, where 15 thousand are from the software sector. In the private sector they observe a turnover of 30% per year. “In the world there is a deficit of 1.5 million people that the market would need to meet the demand of the knowledge economy,” explained Apólito.
In this context of global talent shortage, the problem is aggravated by the exchange rate gap. A large company that pays a worker between $300,000 or $400,000 per month allocates about $3,000 in dollars for that employee, at the official exchange rate. But, if the worker becomes independent and sells his services abroad for that amount in dollars, and brings them to the country through the parallel market, he practically doubles his income.
In the public and private sectors, they estimate that this “brain drain” implies an informal market of more than US$2 billion. To take dimension: in 2021, meat exports in a livestock country like Argentina were for US$2.7 billion. In addition, the amount is around 20% of what the sector exports formally. In 2021, exports were for u$s 6,422 millionaccording to the Indec.
Apólito estimated that the measure will increase exports: “Sales abroad have been ironed in recent years, especially since 2018 when the previous government put withholdings on service exports. Since we removed the withholdings, exports have increased by almost US$1,000 million, so the sector is permeable to these incentives, if they want to pay in dollars they will have to export more.” The Government aspires to reach the US$10 billion of exports in 2029, which is when the knowledge economy regime ends. “We want to analyze a semester to see how the measures work, but it seems to me that we are going to meet that goal sooner,” he anticipated.
For workers who work abroad, who will now be able to enter up to US$1,000 a month in their bank accounts without having to settle it in pesos, the measure is a “good first step”, but “the amounts fall short”assured Ámbito Ignacio Lonzieme, general secretary of the Unión Informática union.
Apólito explained why the amount of US$1,000 per month (US$12,000 per year) was determined. “It is designed for small professionals, a higher amount is a greater incentive for the independent work scheme, and we bet on the creation of jobs in companies, registered, with rights, where they access training and are part of exportable projects where more value is added. Otherwise, you prioritize knowledge: a freelancer can develop an algorithm for abroad, but later an SME from here will need dollars to buy the complete software license that comes from abroad”.
In a dialogue with Ámbito, Luis Galeazzi, executive director of Argencon, defined the measure as positive: “The main problem of the ecosystem is the brain drain, with this instrument we will be able to mitigate the loss, because we will be able to pay up to 20 % in dollars. That people make the decision to stay in a company because they receive part of their salary in dollars will strengthen export projects, the market gives for exports to rise to u$s 8 billion, but you have to create the conditions”. In any case, he anticipated that the people who made the decision to leave the private sector will hardly be able to recover, but the measure will be able to “stop the flow.”
Source: Ambito
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