Finding and retaining top engineering talent has always been a challenge for high-growth companies, yet it's only getting harder. With the increasing demand for software developers with skillsets in an ever-growing number of technology stacks, there is a huge opportunity for tech companies to outsource their projects (or teams) to Latin America. Here are five reasons why you should consider it:
- Talent Shortage in North America
It’s no secret, there is a shortage of engineers in North America. Companies need software developers, but they can't find the right ones to hire.
Why?
The problem is that talented engineers have certain skillsets and qualities that are in high demand: they must be able to understand complex concepts quickly, have strong communications skills so they can explain those concepts clearly to others, and more often than not be willing to work long hours on challenging projects with tight deadlines.
These traits are hard enough for hiring managers to find already—but when your pool grows even smaller because you're looking at a limited geographic area... well... they begin to feel like Sisyphus rolling his boulder up Mount Olympus all over again every time their team gets close enough to success only for it all crashing down around them due to a new set of urgent openings making their way to their table.
Opening your possibilities to remote work from professionals in Latam brings your scalability up to a whole new game, without sacrificing many of the things that outsourcing entails, speaking of which…
- Time Zone
As our world continues to shrink, timezone differences are becoming less of a barrier to collaboration. If you're an American company who wants developers who can speak your language, the Latin American market is right on your doorstep.
The vast majority of the population in Latin America lives in or around what's known as the "Northwest" time zone (UTC−7:00), which means that they'll be able to work during regular business hours for most U.S. companies—or at least within an hour of them!
This is important because many businesses rely heavily on communication and collaboration among teams across different time zones; if a developer's schedule only allows for working from 8pm until midnight and then waking up at 5am to address urgent issues before going to school or work, this can put stress on everyone involved in the project.
Another benefit of having developers in Latin America is that not only do you get more local talent than if you were outsourcing software development work overseas but also more talented workers due to competition between tech companies based out there too.
- Infrastructure
There is a huge misconception that infrastructure in Latin America is poor, and while this varies from country to country, there’s been massive improvements across the board over the last few decades. The internet is faster, roads are better, airports are being built, ports have been renovated, and cities have been upgraded. In many ways, this infrastructure is starting to resemble the kind of infrastructure that you would find in Europe or North America, and in some cases has even become a global example, especially when it comes to environmentally-sustainable development.
- Proximity
Being closer to America poses a great deal of advantages that offshore teams on the other side of the world just have a hard time matching. If you are planning to establish a scalable operation, short travel times are a pretty big deal, allowing you to meet your team members (or fly them over to you) much more often if needed. It also gives you an excuse to travel down over the winter!
- Highly Educated Engineers
Most if not practically all engineers in Latin America have a high school diploma. Plus, scholarship opportunities and heavy-lifting by the government to boost tech education programs means there is no shortage of tech talent in most countries of the region.
One interesting fact is that, surveys have shown a higher percentage of engineers in Latin America intend to perform engineering roles as a long-term career choice, as opposed to their US based counterparts who tend to move into management or business-focused roles at the intersection of technology, or parallel career paths in tech. This means the Latin America talent pool for engineering sees a more sustained growth, whereas he US based pool dwindles over time.
In conclusion, starting a development team in Latin America has its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages. There are many reasons why this can be beneficial, including proximity to clients, lower costs and higher quality engineers. While there are some challenges with hiring talent in Latam, these can be mitigated by partnering with a company that understands how the market works and knows how to navigate its complexities effectively.
At Oceans, we are dedicated to connecting exceptional Latin American talent with exceptional North American companies, explore how we can help you kickstart your staff augmentation efforts.
