The opportunity of partnering with a nearshore neighbor

Over the last decade, the demand for IT talent has multiplied across the world and specifically across North America. With the rise of new technologies and solutions, companies of all sizes and industries focus their HR efforts on attracting and retaining the best tech talent to support their growth.

But these new emerging technologies require particular resources to create, maintain and optimize the products and solutions. There is a high demand for specialized tech talent, and unfortunately, there’s also a skill shortage. 

A study conducted during 2019 by ManpowerGroup revealed that 54% of global companies reported skills shortage; this represents the highest talent shortage in over ten years. Employers said the highest deficits in the U.S. (69%), Mexico (52%), Italy (47%), and Spain (41%). So now, more than ever, great technical talent is hard to find, competitive to hire, and expensive.

Many technology leaders believe that the challenges that this shortage brings could set the industry back. This has made companies look for alternative options to scale their engineering and development teams, filling the gaps that aren’t allowing them to be productive and deliver everything they require in time.

The nearshore opportunity

As companies of all sizes continue to expand their operations, the opportunity to work with talented engineers, developers, project managers, and IT specialists in Latin America has never been more significant. The nearshore model has become an excellent opportunity for companies to expand and grow their teams.

A Gartner study outlines why LATAM has become such an attractive place for North American companies to take their operations. The proximity, time zone compatibility, cultural similarities, and access to multilingual talent are just some of the reasons why these multinational companies are building their remote teams with Latin American talent.

What is a nearshore model?

Nearshore or nearshoring refers to outsourcing service to countries located nearby and similar time zones from the company contracting the service. For example, for the United States and Canada, it would be Mexico or other Latin American countries.

As we mentioned before, tech companies in North America have seen a great opportunity in expanding their IT teams through this model. Why? Because by being close and in a similar time zone, the communication between team members is more efficient.

Companies may feel overwhelmed by the idea of expanding their operations to a different country. But there are multiple solutions, such as staff augmentation, that can make the expansion completely painless.

What are the benefits of nearshoring?

Over the past year, we’ve learned that all organizations can move their operations to a remote work environment and have seen great success with this. Productivity has improved, employees have more flexibility in their schedules, among other things.

With this flexibility, companies feel more confident in expanding their teams through a nearshore model. Not only do they have the benefit of a remote team, but there are also additional benefits.

There’s excellent technical talent in Latin America. A Gartner study outlined why this region has become one of the most appealing options for North American companies. With the growing tech scene in countries like Mexico and Chile, there’s specialized talent emerging across the region.

There’s also the benefit of working in similar time zones. This makes the communication between teams more effective. It also helps boost productivity across the different projects that the company is working on.

Latin American neighbors also share cultural compatibility. They are in tune with social, cultural, financial, and business trends that North American businesses find value. There’s also the great advantage that there’s talent in Latin America that is proficient in speaking English, so all ideas and concepts aren’t lost in translation.

Partnering up with a nearshore neighbor brings multiple opportunities to technology companies across North America. It’s time to explore this fantastic opportunity and get to know an extraordinary talent that Latin America has to offer.