Tech Roundup: the ICT labor shortage in Brazil

This week: The ICT sector battles a shortage of workers. São Paulo goes after PIX. And the obstacles faced by app workers.

STEM to be the solution for lack of labor in the ICT sector

While Brazil’s unemployment rate remains in the double digits, one sector, information and communication technology, can’t seem to find enough workers. As of September, the sector added 123,544 new jobs, representing a 183.2-percent increase compared to 2020. But with further growth on the horizon, companies may find themselves short of manpower.

• If growth forecasts for the sector are correct, ICT will create 797,000 jobs by 2025 — or 159,000 a year.

Why it matters. Only 53,000 people per year in Brazil are graduating in tech-related courses, per sectoral association Brasscom, which is far from enough to meet the demand for labor.

• “The data demonstrates that the talent deficit has been aggravated,” said Sergio Paulo Gallindo, Brasscom’s CEO during a press conference.

STEM. The solution, then, would be found in more STEM professionals — an acronym for “science, technology, engineering and mathematics”. Producing more STEM professionals would increase the supply of workers by 237,000 a year.

• “Higher education grids need to be better aligned with what the job market needs,” said Helena Loiola, an economist who coordinated the study.
• For this purpose, Brasscom announced the creation of the ΣTCEM strategy, which aims to provide technical skills in university courses that already have an affinity with those needed to work in ICT.

Tempered expectations. For Mr. Gallindo, the strategy will be a big step for the sector, but it will not solve all of its problems. ICT in Brazil remains an area dominated by white men from the Southeast region of Brazil. 

• Only 14.8 percent of professionals in the field are women, of which only 5.5 percent are black or mixed race.

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