The number of Uruguayan companies that hire professionals abroad to work remotely grew in 96% in just one yearfrom June 2022 to June 2023, due to a shortcoming that, although it aims to correct through various initiatives, continues to be a problem at present: the lack of workers in the IT sector in Uruguay.
The lack of manpower for the sector of Information Technologies (ICT) in Uruguay It is a problem that not only prevents the further development of the local sector —which, in any case, finds its spaces to continue innovating and growing—; It is also an obstacle for both national and foreign companies located in the country, which must look for talent abroad to fill their professional staff.
This is demonstrated by a study by the human resources company Of the, which detected that in just one year, the number of companies of Uruguay who are looking for professionals abroad to work remotely, due to the lack of local labor. Likewise, in the same period of time —from June 2022 to June 2023—, the hiring of Uruguayans by technology companies abroad increased by 86%.
Uruguayan companies, for their part, mainly hire professionals trained in technology from Argentina and Colombia. In this sense, contracts to those countries grew by 124% and 162%, respectively; and the most hired position is software developer.
Likewise, systems engineers, statisticians or professionals who manipulate and articulate data, and UI/UX designers are among the most sought after roles by companies. technological global.
Vacant positions, a problem that has not yet found a solution
He labor deficit specific and trained for positions of the IT sector in Uruguay It is a problem that has already been diagnosed and has been extensively analyzed by the country’s authorities, who are testing different alternatives and solutions. In this sense, and with zero unemployment in the sector, vacant positions amounted to 3,500 in the middle of the year, according to a study by the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technologies (CUTI).
The main drawback of this situation —that it accounts for a mismatch between the demand for positions such as technicians, developers, and engineers; and the supply or level of training that currently exists in the country in the sector—is that, by not finding the necessary workers, many international companies —mainly based in the free trade zone- must leave the country or, likewise, as many other doubts about whether to invest or not in the national territory in the face of these difficulties.
In Uruguay “We can’t find people who are prepared,” they said from CUTI at the time of releasing the report two months ago.
Different initiatives promoted by the national government aim to solve this problem. Among them, the recently approved law of attraction talentwhich offers tax incentives to technical professionals from the ICT sector from abroad —whether they are foreigners or Uruguayans— in exchange for them settling in the country to live and work.
“From CUTI we also believe that this bill is important, not only for our sector, but also for other sectors of activity that need have IT talent to incorporate technology to their companies. The search for IT talent for non-IT companies is increasingly relevant and has been growing year by year”; pointed out the president of the union, Carlos Acle, to Scope.com.
Source: Ambito
