Latin America: An emerging outsourcing hub

Has the talent shortage got you scrambling for the best available talent? Then look at what the neighboring Latin American region has got to offer.

The United States continues to face a crippling labour shortage that has left many businesses scrambling for skilled workers. The latest data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce indicates that more than 10 million job openings remain unfilled as 6 million Americans remain unemployed.

But despite these numbers, agile companies have been able to hire well with the help of outsourcing service providers. They have allowed employers to access large, diverse talent pools and save on growing labour costs.

While countries like the Philippines and India continue to be the top options for outsourcing, there is one region that is steadily establishing itself as an excellent source of talent for U.S.-based businesses – Latin America.

Indeed, the number of companies outsourcing to Latin America has risen and will continue to do so as the benefits are substantial and transformative.

READ MORE: Nearshoring vs offshoring: What’s the difference?

Aside from savings on labour and access to the best available talent, businesses will be able to build teams that can work with them in the same time zone. Meetings will be easy to schedule and align, while collaboration will be fast and efficient.

Compared to most of its offshore counterparts, Latin America has professionals that are culturally aligned to the ways of doing business in the U.S.

In the last few years, Mexico has been a go-to destination, especially for companies in need of Spanish-speaking talent. Meanwhile, tech experts from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia have caught the attention of companies from the U.S. and Canada.

An emerging outsourcing destination within Latin America, Colombia is a great option in terms of talent and overall services.

The country has a 25.9 million-strong labour force, the third largest in Latin America. Its capital, Bogotá, is commonly referred to as the “Athens of South America” because of the abundance of cultural and educational institutions.

“Just in Bogota, 70% of the population is made up of bilingual professionals with strong cultural affinity for the U.S. since English certifications and training programs are easily accessible in the region,” he said.

The forecast for the country’s Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector is an annual revenue growth of 3.8% between 2020 and 2022, and the figure is expected to continually rise.

An emerging IT hub

Businesses in the U.S. are keeping their eyes on Colombia because of its emerging technology sector. Their IT industry has grown by 38% since 2016, making it the 4th largest in Latin America.

The capital Bogota and the northern city of Medellín have been main hubs for software development outsourcing, while eight specialised regional software clusters have been established across the nation.

The number of graduates in engineering, computing, and other IT-related fields has doubled since 2010, adding to the already sizable pool of software developers with solid experience.

Big data is one of the technologies that is developing the fastest, and academic partnerships between the public and private sectors are setting the pace in Colombia.

The nation also has some of the best infrastructure in the region, with a network of submarine cables enabling faster data transmission and ensuring reliable connections.

Seeing the country’s potential, tech giants, such as Facebook’s Meta, Google, and Spotify, have set up their offices in the country.

Nearshoring to Latin America can also help mitigate the impact of certain geopolitical risks and disruptions on your operations.