Shortage of human talent in IT

The global labor market has encountered different challenges. Quarantine, teleworking, mass layoffs, and process automation are some aspects that have affected all levels of the organization, which have seen the need to take specific measures to mitigate the inconveniences that may arise.

In this stage of the new normal, where the covid-19 pandemic accelerated and forced the digital transformation, to a great extent, in companies around the world, there is still a shortage of human talent with various skills necessary to cope and continue advancing in this transition process within companies, where it is evident the need to start training people in relevant topics such as programming, data analysis, software, artificial intelligence, among others, to obtain competitive, quality talent that is, above all, updated to the market demands. This is one of the main conclusions highlighted by experts in human resources.

On the other hand, they show the difficulty of finding qualified personnel for organizations, performing specialized selection tests and taking a great deal of time and resources, but sometimes the hurry leads them to recruit unqualified people to be trained within the companies, a process that is complex at times and that consumes valuable time for companies, and even more so in such a competitive and dynamic world. Therefore, short-term training should be sought instead of focusing strictly on a professional career. This training should begin with skill from an early age, such as high school, so that students, when they complete their studies, are more competitive in the job market. However, it is also necessary to work on updating obsolete education, where universities and schools themselves impose subjects that are not of great relevance and that could be replaced with topics demanded by today's world.

All of the above is reflected and can be confirmed by a study of IT Technology Talent conducted by PageGroup. The report highlights a 48% shortage in the supply of digital profiles in Latin America, while the growth in the IT sector in the region was 7.7% for 2021.

Another of the points revealed by the study is related to the most demanded positions or vacancies in Latin America in software development, among which stand out: JavaScript Angular 78%, JavaScript 67%, Objective-C iOS 63%, and Java Android 44%.

Concerning the above, executives of significant areas of the technology sector consider that roles such as artificial intelligence, robotics, data analysts, and software engineers are hard to fill in organizations and have little qualified human talent for those jobs. This is despite the fact that salaries within this sector are characterized by quite favorable salary remuneration, which grows steadily and increases as the years of professional career progress, with the initial salaries being doubled on many occasions.

It is evident that the lack of talent in a large part of the sectors, especially in the technology sector, is causing a real headache for many companies. Not only attracting it but also retaining it. Therefore, it is necessary to contribute to the adequate training of the worker to ensure the employability of that large amount of talent that exists but that, on many occasions, is not enough in the labor market.

The call is to the private sector and governments to be participating actors in technological investment. It is necessary to start training in digital transformation from an early age because if this digital transformation does not take place, several jobs could be lost due to the existing gap in the technological world. Experts say that by 2030 one in four jobs could be lost due to the gap in the digital world and the demands of the market.

Therefore, companies must build bridges with academia to improve this scenario. Thus, only the industry-State-academia triad will make it possible for countries and companies to look favorably upon the technological revolution and the transformation that is becoming evident every day.

Finally, among other things, companies must be able to be attractive, and employees must have a strong sense of belonging to the company. To this end, not only economic or salary aspects stand out, but increasingly also flexibility in schedules, work methods (including new systems such as teleworking), and work-life balance, among others, are the factors most valued by human talent. 62% of workers consider that a good balance between work and personal life is important and necessary when selecting their jobs. Adding all these aspects together will result in quality professionals who give their best in each task to be performed and feel at ease within the organizations.