Latin America's brain drain is reshaping the global talent landscape.

🌐 TECLA: connecting the best talent in Latin America with the best tech companies worldwide. 🌐

March 16, 2023

Our monthly newsletter provides insights and analysis to hire, manage, and retain teams in LatAm. Stay informed about the evolving landscape of the talent market in LatAm and nearshore!

🌎 THE LATAM RECRUITER - March 2023 Issue

In this issue: Explore Latin America's brain drain and how global companies benefit from it, discover competitors to ChatGPT, and learn about tools to enhance your team's skills.  

Seizing the benefits of Latin America's brain drain of skilled workers for global companies.

"Brain Drain" is the phenomenon of high-skilled workers moving to other countries for better opportunities (IMF, 1999).

Recent studies by the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (2021) show a significant increase in highly skilled workers in Latin America seeking remote job opportunities with international companies. The trend has been steadily growing at an average rate of 30% over the past few years, reflecting a rising preference for remote work among the region's workforce.

The growing need for skilled digital workers has revolutionized the job market by erasing traditional boundaries and embracing remote recruitment. Remote work boosts hiring options for recruiters and firms to access skilled talent, and new markets says World Economic Forum (2021).

Why is the scarcity of digital talent increasing, and how can international companies benefit from recruiting remote talent?

  • Due to the economic impact of the pandemic, Latin American currencies have been devalued, making foreign offerings appealing. This has made remote employment opportunities with international companies more attractive

    • Hiring them provides numerous benefits to companies, such as increased productivity, reduced overhead costs, and a more flexible workforce.

“The big change today is that people prefer to stay in Brazil working for foreign companies because of currency depreciation (....). Now the offers are much better.”

- Bruno Ribeiro in an interview with Infobae (2022).

  • Latin America has experienced significant expansion in higher education since the early 2000s, according to Ferreyra (2017).

    • A study by sociologist Tomas Paez indicates that the migrant population from Latin America is highly educated, with 90% being university graduates, 40% holding a master's degree, and 12% possessing a Ph.D. This educated workforce offers international companies a rich pool of talent to draw upon for their software development needs.

  • Hiring Latin American workers can benefit global companies, including diverse perspectives, cultural awareness, and language skills. This is especially useful for companies seeking to expand their regional market presence.

“Hiring from LATAM has meant we can work with engineers who overlap on our time, communicate well, and fit within our budget.”

- Corey Griggs, CTO of Octerra.

  • According to a report from the English Proficiency Index, Latin America exhibits great English proficiency, with nations like Argentina and Chile ranking among the top ten globally regarding English proficiency among non-native speakers.

    • Nevertheless, is still important to note that there is still a significant gap between the demand for and supply of English language skills.

📌 Future of work gems.

Tools to boost your remote team!

  • 💬 Replai: Craft impressive social media responses and increase your online presence with AI Replai in just 2 minutes.

  • ✍️ Jason AI: Automate B2B sales tasks with Jason AI, the first ChatGPT-powered sales assistant.

  • 🖌️ html.to.design: Transform any website into Figma designs that are entirely editable.

💡Key Industry Insights.

  • 🔍 Big companies like Microsoft and Google are creating conversational AI tools using large language models. They compete with lesser-known companies like Anthropic and You.com, which have developed versions such as Chat-GPT and AI image generator models. Snapchat is also developing "My AI" for in-app use. This fierce competition signals a potential revolution in the AI chatbot market and technology industry.

  • 💬 Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is creating a text-based social network app that could rival Twitter. The decentralized app will be based on Mastodon's framework and not controlled by a single entity. This move could capitalize on Twitter's recent turmoil under Elon Musk's leadership, which has led to advertising struggles.

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Stay in contact!

I hope you enjoyed this edition of the LatAm Recruiter! If you'd like to discuss hiring in LatAm, or get advice about the LatAm market, reach out via LinkedIn or email me at [email protected]. I'd be happy to help!

- Gino Ferrand, CEO and Founder at TECLA.