It’s not a new problem. The shortage of qualified human resources in technological fields has been felt for a long time, especially in Europe. A few years before the pandemic, studies pointed out that in 2020, there would be a shortage of between 800,000 and one million information technology (IT) professionals to meet business needs. The health crisis caused by Covid 19, which has forced the world to adapt quickly to telework, has exacerbated this trend, as many companies have accelerated their digitalization projects.
“The lack of human resources in IT was already a reality, the pandemic has only accelerated this situation. There are multinationals, from the United States, England, the Netherlands, among others , who recruit in Portugal, often through networks such as Linkedin, and who make very attractive offers to national talent,” says Paulo Santos, Director of Incubation and Acceleration at Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN), located in Coimbra.
This manager even speaks of “talent hunting”, since Portuguese professionals are highly appreciated internationally, for having an excellent level of training. Today, while teleworking, a trend that seems to have taken hold, cancels out the importance of the proximity factor, the recruitment market has become even more globalized. The benefit for international employers is clear: lower wages for skilled resources. The advantage for “harassed” national talents is also understandable: more salary and greater recognition in the course. It remains to be seen how national companies are doing in the face of this inappropriate demand.
For companies working mainly for the domestic market, this question is all the more sensitive as they sell their products at “national” prices, but pay their human resources at international prices. As Pedro Santos says, these companies will face difficulties in the post-crisis period, and they will have to go through an important phase of adjustment. But, on the other hand, it also represents opportunities for some national companies that find it easier to recruit outside the country – such as, for example, in Brazil, explains this official.
Victor Batista, CEO and co-founder of Present Technologies, a Coimbra-based software development company, admits this is a real problem for domestic companies. “While the pandemic has closed some physical borders, in our region it has led to complete globalization. What is happening now is that salaries are increasing and the availability of professionals in the market is decreasing, in counter- cycle with most other regions. This is undoubtedly a sensitive issue for IT companies, as this is our biggest risk to date. It also implies that domestic companies purchasing IT services must pay more for these services”said.
The businessman also adds that “many foreign IT companies are settling in Portugal with the support of the government, under the sole pretext of creating jobs. The problem is that this activity has full employment, which helps the “speculative bubble.” “Our authorities should require a different type of investment from these companies.” essentially works across borders.
PHC and Critical focus on improvement to retain talent
Luís Antunes, director of the People Experience unit at PHC Software, explains that in the last four or five years the sector has a need greater than the existing offer, in particular with the centers of Lisbon and Porto which are become technology hubs for start-ups.
“However, this pressure of finding talent has forced companies to manage their employees in the best possible way, training them, developing skills and work and productivity methodologies. Portugal has made good steps in this direction, with examples of companies that are at the level of the best in the world and compete for talent at a global level. We must not see the glass half full, but understand how this challenge has allowed us to evolve at the level of the company he says.
Luís Antunes explains that companies adapt to meet their needs and so PHC Software works the same way. “The emotional salary has a significant weight for great talents, and the corporate culture, well-being, autonomy, flexibility, individual development, the relationship with the team, or leadership are determinants of happiness and which are hardly replaced by a simple question of remuneration,” he says.
Critical Software, a company of more than a thousand employees, also believes that this situation creates opportunities for improvement, particularly in terms of talent retention. Nuno Vaz Santos, personnel manager, explains that this is a field in full employment, so companies must be competitive to attract and retain their talent. “We try to retain our employees by improving, for example, the distribution of wealth internally. For example, the highest salary cannot be more than 10 times higher than the lowest salary. the senior management only receive rewards after everyone has received them”refers to.
This manager says Critical is committed to this improvement and is exploring even more collaborative spaces. Additionally, “the sense of purpose, the feeling of being part of the community, that people are proud to belong to the team, all of this is essential to retain talent. It completes the emotional salary package”, explains Nuno Vaz Santos.
“Talent Hunt” is not a recent fad
Vasco Rodrigues, Associate Director of Michael Page Information Technology, explains that “harassment” by big business is not a recent fad, it’s been around forever. A niche, where the remuneration is not only financial, but also emotional. However, we cannot hide that it is difficult for a large part of the market to retain or hire professionals because the big brands are increasingly active in their search,” he says.
This specialist in the recruitment market also explains that there are two visions on this subject: on the one hand, hiring technological candidates is increasingly a herculean task, mainly due to its scarcity, but also due to the current vagaries of the market (don’t leave certainty for uncertainty, for example); and, on the other hand, the reduction in activity of certain companies can lead to greater openness to new career opportunities.
Luísa Ribeiro, Strategy & Consulting Talent & Organization Area Leader at Accenture, says IT areas have been fundamental in mitigating the potential impacts of covid-19, not only from the point of view of business continuity, with the support for the transition to remote work of a large part of the workforce – around one million Portuguese -, but also in the continuity of activities, to support the transition and increase of e-commerce. “So what we are seeing and will continue to see is an increase in the demand for skills in this area. If we are not able to increase the volume and pace of training and reskilling professionals, the gap between supply and demand will tend to increase exponentially. It is difficult to quantify at the moment by how much, but if we observe the rate at which digitalization increases, we will surely face a more complicated situation” , he said.
She also agrees that this situation will open up new opportunities for domestic companies. “Globalization and labor mobility can be seen as a challenge, but also as an opportunity, Portugal’s ability to attract investment from international companies also extends to its ability to attract talent”says this official.
So, if it is true that telework has allowed Portuguese resources to work remotely for multinationals, it is no less true that national companies can access resources remotely from other cities in the world. , he explains. “One of the means that Portuguese companies have to fight against this migration is to create conditions that meet the expectations of these professionals in addition to remuneration, namely work-life balancepurpose and professional development,” he concludes.
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