* By Jamile Sabatini Marques
News about the lack of skilled labor in the technology sector is constant in Brazilian newspapers. We already faced this problem before the Covid-19 pandemic, and with the acceleration of the digital transformation that took place in this period, this scarcity is even more in evidence. As technology is transversal in the economy, these professionals serve many areas of the market, such as the financial and specialized consulting sectors. In addition, the current moment has highlighted opportunities to work for companies anywhere in the world, without the need for change, thus reconciling work, quality of life and well-being. In view of these points, it is urgent that there is a program by the government, companies and the third sector so that, together, they can fight the difference between the offer of jobs that the market offers and the demand for work.
Today, the country is unable to train an adequate number of professionals to ensure the competitiveness of companies in the technology sector. And the trend is for this picture to become even more accentuated: According to data from CESAR (2021) on the blackout of labor in IT, it is expected that in 2024 we will have 420 thousand vacancies open in the country. At the same time, according to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), Brazil has 14.3 million people looking for a job.
Many companies in the technology sector seek diversity in their hiring. And this point must be considered even by an economic factor: currently, women represent more than 50% of the country's workforce, which does not reflect the percentage of female workers in the sector. Diversity in all aspects is also necessary, not only with regard to gender, but also the training of a relevant number of people who represent social minorities who, nowadays, do not have easy access to the necessary resources to work in the area.
In order for us to have a more vibrant Brazil, with more jobs and opportunities, with more competitive companies, we need to encourage cultural change. And this change begins in the first years of life of citizens, in schools. Even with the increasingly accelerated digital transformation, basic education institutions continue to present traditional professions as an opportunity for graduation. We need to teach, for example, that training in mathematics will not only provide the student with the opportunity to be a teacher. If we minimally analyze the possible areas of activity, mathematics leads people to be data scientists, computer scientists, information technology production engineers, among many others. Furthermore, it is very important that children and teenagers learn at school how to be good leaders and work as a team. The world that each one works in his square no longer exists.
Children and young people in this country need to know the technology market, the opportunities they can have in the area and what is needed to contribute to reducing socioeconomic inequality in the country. There is still a lack of incentives, but there are also several free courses offered by companies in the sector, the government and organized civil society in order to contribute to the social and economic development of Brazil through the promotion of labor. We are already living in the future, it is time to train more and more people for the technology sector and thus have an increasingly digital and less unequal Brazil.
* Jamile Sabatini Marques is Director of Innovation and Development at ABES (Brazilian Association of Software Companies) and a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IEA), at USP's Synthesis Center in the Global Cities Program
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