With the advance in digitalization, the impact of the lack of professionals affects the growth of the market; companies have sought to strengthen culture and invest in development and training
With the increasing dependence on technology, the global market faces a barrier to the advancement of digital: the shortage of professionals with training and knowledge in areas related to information technology. Today, in several areas of the Brazilian economy, there are reports of “cannibalization” or “fraternal fights”, with several players, including international ones, vying for talent and seeking to attract them, whether with higher salaries, additional benefits, among other benefits.
A study carried out by Softex, a social organization focused on promoting the IT area, last year, estimates that the shortage in the sector should exceed 400 thousand jobs by the end of 2022. A number that goes against the lack of jobs in Brazil , which affects 12 million people, according to recent data from the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
And experts and market professionals believe that this problem tends to increase in the coming years. “This impact is not in one area or another, it is general. Our biggest challenge is not selling, but recruiting, developing and retaining talent. In this way, in addition to looking for professionals, we invest a lot in the development and training of professionals”, says Tomás Trojan, COO of Cadastra, a performance and digital communication company.
Marcelo Soares, technology director at WMcCann, says that, as the agency’s business demands agility and precision to put projects on the street or implement innovations, the lack of professionals in the market reflects on the entire structure. “All areas are impacted, even if indirectly, as it is a chain reaction”. Currently, 41% of the agency’s employees are linked to technology, such as media, digital area and data, considering statisticians, mathematicians, engineers and data scientists.
This problem can also be noticed by the time it takes companies to close vacancies. In Cadastra, Trojan says it varies between one to two months, with leadership positions taking longer. Today, the company has about 20 vacancies, including developers, strategists and technology operations teams. At martech Bornlogic, the period required doubles, going from 20 to 40 days, on average. And at McCann it is between 30% and 40% higher than hiring in other areas.
Another important indicator when analyzing the real impact of the situation is turnover, which is generally high. To deal with the issue, WMcCann defined diversification as a process: it has strategic positions within the team and a support and execution arm in partners.
“Today it is very difficult to have all the expertise within the team and, in this line, we chose to maintain a strategic and experienced team, so that in synergy with a select group of partners we can carry out depending on the size of the demand”, says Soares.
develop culture
Companies have also sought to increase investments in the development of the so-called “culture”, as a way of attracting and retaining talent. Martech Bornlogic says that it is improving the relationship with employees, which, with a practical counterpart, represents the restructuring of all the benefits offered, such as an increase in the Meal Voucher, improvement in the health plan, adoption of benefits such as home office assistance and assistance education.
“We want our professionals to feel welcomed within the company, so we are always attentive to the demands that matter both personally and professionally”, says Fábio Camões, head of HR at the company. The startup is also already negotiating with programs and projects that encourage the training of technology professionals.
Cadastra also sees employee engagement as a way to solve the problem. “Transformation and growth are inseparable, and are only possible when we put people at the center and connected to our purpose”, says Trojan. And, for that, a front of action is the training and development of professionals. As an example, the executive cites Digital Start, the company’s internship program that he himself took part in early in his career.
In the same vein, Guilherme Stefanini, CEO of Gauge and responsible for the Stefanini Group’s digital marketing platform, says the company has developed over the years a series of programs that assist in the continuous development of employees and monitor career development.
The training is also supported by the Stefanini Institute, the group’s social arm, which prepares young people for their first job, especially in technology areas. According to him, these are efforts that, in the long term and as an ecosystem born from a holding company native to the technology, have resulted in companies not registering impacts in a “sharp way” in their operation.
“We have been improving ourselves continuously and always attentive to the main movements and market trends, with a focus on expanding knowledge in the area of innovation and digital transformation”, says Stefanini, when asked about the expected increase in demand for professionals driven by new technologies and the metaverse.
According to Soares, from WMcCann, everything will be technology and, therefore, the very term as we know it, “departmentalized”, must cease to exist. “All people will need to understand the subject and be able to operate, for this we are investing in awareness and education”, he adds.
Quite a challenge considering that, according to a survey by Brasscom (Association of Information and Communication Technology and Digital Technologies Companies), Brazil should need 159,000 new professionals each year until 2025, and currently it forms a little more than 50 thousand people a year.
