"Multilingual, highly qualified professionals", is the first feature mentioned of Uruguay to attract investment from foreign technology companies to the country, in a Uruguay Smart Services report by Uruguay XXI this year.
Although this is recognized by foreign and domestic companies in the technology sector, there are not enough people. And this is felt in the sector and in the growth possibilities of the companies.
Despite this, British technology company Endava is landing in Uruguay through the purchase late last year of U.S.-based Velocity Partners, which has a presence in the country with two software development centers.
In this way, the company will have a presence in Latin America and will seek customers in the United States, in addition to those it already has in Europe. Velocity Partners is present in Latin America with centers also in Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela.
It arrived in Uruguay in 2012; software development in its two offices located in downtown Montevideo is exported to customers in the United States and Canada. "Endava has a business model similar to Velocity Partners. They do the development for Europe from Eastern Europe," explained Velocity Partners' country manager for Uruguay and Colombia, Pedro Minetti.
The name change from Velocity Partners to Endava is expected to take place within three to four months.
Currently 90 people are working on software development, which, according to Minetti, will be more to execute the new strategies designed for Endava in the region.
When a foreign technology company sets up in Uruguay or plans to expand, it generates a stir among its competitors because the direct consequence is an increase in labor demand in a market where supply remains the same.
This is what the Vice President of Engineering of VeriFone in Uruguay, Rafael Cuenca, believes. "When a company is being installed or has a new project, they start the movements in the market. The only way they have to assemble the equipment is to take people from other companies that are already established," said Cuenca, in direct reference to the zero unemployment in the sector. VeriFone Uruguay employs 120 people, including 10% of foreigners.
This lack of qualified human resources in the country is already considered "a problem" for the company; as a consequence, it had to move specific projects to other countries. "We have developed in India, because there are available resources there, and if we did it here (Uruguay), it would take months to assemble the team. It's a problem today," Cuenca admitted.
Attracting talent
Taking into account this labor shortage problem, a year and a half ago, Uruguay XXI - together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Directorate of Migration - agreed to grant temporary residency and visas for foreign workers hired by companies in Uruguay within eight days.
According to the ICT sector coordinator of the Global Services Program of Uruguay XXI, Isabella Antonaccio, this solution was widely used by the Indian company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). "More than 100 people came from India, in addition to people from Cuba and Venezuela, with a good technical level," Antonaccio explained. The company must apply for residency and a visa, explaining that it has already hired the person, the position he or she will hold and the salary. The residency is granted for two years and can be renewed for two more.
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"Uruguay is competitive for companies that offer high value-added services to set up in the country" Isabella Antonaccio, ICTs Uruguay XXI Sector Coordinator
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The company of Indian origin settled in Uruguay in 2002, in what was the first location of the company in Latin America.
Today, it recruits candidates from other Latin American countries to work in Uruguay. In addition, TCS has employees of Indian nationality, who are transferred from the head office. Their purpose is to share their knowledge with local staff and collaborate with training in Uruguay. For the head delivery center of TCS, Santiago Priario, the migration policies of Uruguay contribute to receive highly qualified professionals. "It is not news that Uruguay has always had restrictions in terms of large-scale availability of talent, but immigration policies have been adapting to the skilled immigration that the country is receiving in recent years," he summarized.
One of TCS's strategies is to train junior employees in the most in-demand technologies, as they can build their careers in the company and learn as they work.
For the president of the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (Cuti), Leonardo Loureiro, this HR shortage can become an "opportunity". "For an industry like ours, with a global focus, multiculturalism is very important, both for the development of projects and for creativity. Therefore, in the shortage, many times there are excellent Uruguayan professionals that can be complemented with foreigners who come to work in the country," he reflected. He added that if Uruguay wants to be a reference for the installation of software development centers, it must "encourage more foreigners to come to work".
For the company NetSuite -acquired by Oracle in 2016-, it was also a problem to get quality resources when it started operating in Uruguay, in 2012, after the purchase of two local companies, since there was still no development of the brand and infrastructure. According to the general manager of NetSuite Uruguay, Diego Terra, that situation was solved, although for some key positions staff has been hired in other countries. "Today we have good benefits and possibilities for everyone to develop, which is important when it comes to attracting talent. The employees we recruited were from Argentina, and there were applicants from Cuba, Colombia, England and Venezuela," he said.
Be part of
Benefits and organizational culture are key to attracting talent in the ICT industry, according to Mercado Libre Uruguay country manager Rafael Hermida. Although salary is important when choosing between one company and another-according to the latest Salary Council, a junior technician receives $ 25,528 nominal for 44 hours a week-this is not the only thing that matters.
"Despite the extremely high competition for talent in the industry, we believe that the employee value proposition is what is needed today," Hermida said.
In the case of the Argentine company Globant, the first development center abroad was in Uruguay, chosen for its physical and cultural proximity and for the "talent pool" present in the market, according to the Staff manager, Bernardo Manzella. "It is a challenge to have the best people working at Globant," he said.
The "globers" (as the company's employees are called) are the talents that the company wants to retain in the company. As this audience is millennial, the offices have spaces to relax, looking for flexibility in space. "In Uruguay there are excellent universities and highly trained professionals; it is important to have the best," he added.
In May 2004, Sabre set up its global customer service centre in Montevideo, and is currently developing technical solutions for customers. According to Project Manager in Uruguay, Gonzalo Sainz, one of the key reasons for the arrival was the workforce. "The high degree of multilingualism available, the diversity in the population and the service oriented culture make the market stand out," he said.
When Sabre first set up shop, it did so with a team of 120 people, working in three types of roles. At the time, the plan was to expand the team to 300 people in the same three functions. However, the company decided to grow to more than 500 in Uruguay, as well as to incorporate new roles.
For technology companies present in the country, internal training of employees is important to fill some vacancies.
Focus on companies
Despite the lack of human resources, both Uruguay XXI and Cuti understand that a favorable environment has been generated for the installation of software development centers in Uruguay.
Antonaccio of Uruguay XXI explained that macroeconomic and political stability, and technological infrastructure are two of the aspects that are most promoted for the installation of foreign companies. "Uruguay was one of the first countries in the region to achieve the internationalization of software. It generated an ecosystem that is used to export. Professionals have that culture of working abroad", he highlighted.
On the other hand, the incentives to the software industry, with the exemption of the Income Tax on Economic Activities (IRAE) for software developments destined abroad, is another benefit for the installation of development centers.
However, Loureiro de Cuti stressed that what companies value most is the talent of Uruguayan people. "First for its technical quality, but also for its versatility and adaptability to complex situations".
Source: The Observer
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