Software development and technology engineers are in peak demand across the globe – does your firm have enough top talent to fill an ever-growing roster of new positions? Statistics show it’s likely you may not. Demand for top talent in software development, tech engineering, and related industry jobs throughout is expanding at a pace that continues to outpace new, incoming talent. Particularly in the United States, where new computer and technology science graduates are not meeting rapidly multiplying demand.    In fact, according to Tech Republic and other industry sources, demand for tech talent outpaced supply by nearly 78 percent. This statistic reflects a total of 65,000 new computer science graduates in 2019, compared to 307,000 new tech jobs opening the same year. When your company’s software engineers and developers are delivering exceptional results for clients, but cannot fulfill available client demand, that talent gap seems like a pretty big hole to fill.    That’s where nearshore outsourcing comes in. When it comes to finding a deeper pool of available software development and engineering talent that will deliver results work alongside your current staff, Latin American countries are the place to look.

What does the U.S. tech employment landscape look like?

According to The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the United States tech workforce grew by more than 2.3 million jobs in 2019. According to its website, CompTIA is a leading voice and advocate for the global information technology ecosystem and the tech professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the world’s economy.   Each year, CompTIA releases its Cyberstates™ report, a definitive guide to national, state, and metropolitan area tech sector and tech workforce analytics. According to its’ site, “Cyberstates aggregates mountains of data and transforms it into easy to understand visuals and actionable insights.” Some important highlights of the 2020 report (reflecting 2019 data and 2021 projections) include the following:

• 12.4 million net U.S. tech employment projected for 2021
• 245,500 net new tech jobs projected for 2021
• 4.6 million tech job opening posts (2019)
• 822,000 job posts reflect those in emerging tech areas, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), edge computing, and blockchain, to name only a few.
• At 1.6 million, software and web developers represent the fastest growing category of tech jobs.
• The U.S. tech industry’s economic impact is $1.9 billion, representing 10 percent of the national economy.
• 13,400 tech startups launched in 2019
• The median wage of a U.S. tech worker is nearly double the median national wage.

Why should my company source Latin American tech talent?

Put simply, it’s all about supply and demand.   The final point above gets the conversation moving in what is a multi-faceted approach to considering nearshore outsourcing for tech pros. The facts show that wages of U.S. tech professionals far surpass those of an equally qualified talent pool from Mexico and South American countries.   According to Ivemsa.com, Mexico’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) workforce is growing rapidly. Twenty percent of Mexican college graduates have relevant engineering degrees, amounting to over 110,000 per year, which far surpasses the U.S. in technical talent. Due to this availability of well-trained, affordable talent, more tech firms and investors continue to add or transfer operations there. In reflection of this shift, the cities of Monterrey in Nuevo Leon and Guadalajara in Jalisco have been coined, the “Silicon Valley of Latin America.”   The U.S. job market for tech workers is hypercompetitive and Mexico’s talent can help some gaps. The cost of higher education in Mexico also is far less than in the U.S., so that talent surplus is likely to expand further in coming years.  Columbia and Costa Rica follow close behind Mexico when it comes to available tech talent.

number8 connects you to top Latin American tech talent

number8 launched in 2008 when it’s founder experienced the difficulty of adopting an agile development methodology while working with a traditional offshore partners, primarily from Asia. Since then, it has been our mission to provide cost-effective tech nearshore outsourcing options to agile companies. While offshore outsourcing is familiar to most, a nearshore approach simply aims to locate talent closer in proximity to a U.S.-based firm.  Working with a nearshore firm helps organizations avoid various communications, culture, and time-zone barriers associated with outsourcing to places like China or India. It also costs significantly less than working with U.S.-based onshore teams and provides your organization access to a limitless pool of talented IT professionals. Ultimately, nearshore development offers you the perfect balance of top talent, daily collaboration, and cost-savings.    When you’re ready to consider customized nearshore development and tech staff augmentation, number8’s full-stack team of tech consultants is prepared to and ready to listen to your needs! Pursuing nearsourcing support through number8 is clear:

• Spacious, Secure Offices in San Jose, Costa Rica, and San Pedro Sula, Honduras where teams may collaborate in person.
• Culturally similar and English-fluent IT professionals
• Dedicated local management and recruiting personnel in Latin America
• Time-zone alignment with all-day collaboration
• Limitless talent pool with active tech recruitment in 13 Central and South American Countries
• 12 Years of Nearshore outsourcing experience
• Cost working with nearshore talent is typically 40 percent less than hiring a U.S.-based, internal team member.
• All candidates are assessed and evaluated using The Predictive Index.