Growth & HR Challenges for BA Tech Sector

Recruitment flyer for IBM Argentina; IT demand outweighs the supply of candidates in Buenos Aires.

Representatives of two of the biggest players in the Buenos Aires IT space made back-to-back appearances on the BA business radio program Efecto Mariposa (Butterfly Effect) today and shared valuable insight on the advantages and challenges to sustained sector growth in Argentina.

IBM Argentina‘s Director of Marketing, Communications & Community Relations, Ignacio Vaca de Osma, said the English accent spoken here and the time zone overlap with the U.S. were two local advantages of doing business in BA.

In terms of challenges, he emphasized the need to re-evaluate and accelerate the traditional Argentine six-year university programs. BA students would be much more inclined to choose an IT career if they could finish in three years and start working for a first-class company like IBM immediately upon graduation.

Carlos Stella, Human Resources Director for Tata Consultancy Services in Latin America, agreed with the need for curriculum tweaking, emphasizing the need for intensive English language and cultural integration training, considering many local IT employees have supervisors in foreign countries. Tata currently has 240 employees working in the new Parque Patricios Tech District and plans to have 1,400 by year-end.

Argentines make up roughly 90% of Tata’s current workforce with employees from India filling out the ranks. Both representatives felt greater emphasis needs to be placed on promoting IT careers if the country is going to keep pace with the global demand. As Vaca de Osma summed it up, “this is an historic opportunity to generate value-added services for the world.”