In the latter half of this decade, it has been demonstrated that with the onset of remote work post-pandemic and the need to accelerate technological knowledge in various areas and industries, hiring developers and tech-related roles from Central and South America has become increasingly prominent for U.S. companies. Countries like Venezuela, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina, and Uruguay are known for their qualified IT talent and significantly lower salaries than the United States.
A Statista study shows that in 2023, there were approximately 500,000 software developers in Brazil. Mexico had around 220,000 software developers, while Argentina totaled approximately 115,000. A vital strength of the Latin America region is the proximity of most countries, ensuring effective communication and planning.
Based on this, we provide a practical guide in the following lines to help CEOs, CTOs, and talent acquisition leaders understand the essential aspects of tech talent selection and retention process in these countries, as implemented by Stateside.
Step 1: Discovery
Hiring a team or talent for your company is not a one-size-fits-all plan. Every company has different needs and goals, so it is necessary to offer you the most personalized service possible, tailored to each of your considerations. Therefore, we will discuss your requirements and our model to identify the perfect match.
Identifying what you are looking for and which team or talent best fits your needs is necessary. This will outline a plan of action, along with the service costs and required timelines.
Our free Account Management services will keep your team engaged, proactively resolve issues, and discover opportunities.
Step 2: Recruitment
This stage is crucial for the success of any company. It’s essential to recognize that the people within a company are what truly make it thrive. Achieving company goals heavily relies on having the right people in place. Hiring the wrong person costs companies $1 trillion annually (cost of search, onboarding, training, lost revenue, and organizational disruption). Another factor is that the average national turnover rate (IBIS) is 25%* The potential cost of a bad hire (HBR) represents 300% of the salary.
*Sources: CNBC, MarketWatch, BLS, USA Today, AON, IbisWorld, Gartner.
Therefore, it’s vital to carefully consider and implement an effective recruitment process to find individuals whose talents align with the company’s values and objectives.
A detailed and well-structured recruitment process is a powerful tool that can make a significant difference in a company’s success. Therefore, it’s essential to pay close attention to the following key steps, which parallel our process at Stateside:
- Share the Job Description, Budget, and Timeline: It is crucial to provide a detailed and accurate job description. It should encompass both soft skills and technical skills required for the role. Clearly define the profile needed, the salary offered, and the timeline for the onboarding process. At Stateside, we help our clients with this process. We involve our technology director or manager to help you craft the right JD for your talent needs.
- Thoroughly vetted Candidates: Once we have a pool of candidates, we conduct a thorough selection process. This involves reviewing resumes, experience, salary expectations, technical skills, knowledge, and location to identify potential star candidates who would best complement the team.
- Interview the Candidates for Approval: Following our careful selection process, our team provides you with the top 3 candidates available in Latin America, specifically tailored to meet your needs, within just one week. This stage involves meeting the candidates to assess their suitability and choosing the person that best fits your team.
- Send the SOW for Signature:Once you have selected your preferred candidate, we will send you the Statement of Work (SOW) for your review. This document will outline the timeline, costs, deliverables, and schedules. Once signed, we can proceed with finalizing the contract.
- Hire the Candidate: In our case, we handle the entire hiring process for the chosen candidate, ensuring everything is in place for a smooth start. We take care of all the administrative details, from paperwork to coordination with the candidate, making the transition seamless. We manage all HR-related tasks, freeing your internal resources to focus on core business functions.
If the client is not satisfied with the quality of our delivery after one month, we will void the first invoice.
Step 3: Onboarding
One of the steps you can delegate in this process is onboarding. This allows you, as a leader or your team of managers, to focus on the specific aspects of your business. Entrusting experts with this stage is crucial.
In this case, we handle the internal setup: hardware, payment terms, work benefits, HR, and security protocols.
Step 4: Retention
As we mentioned, the average turnover rate in the tech industry is 25%. This makes retention a crucial point for building a solid and long-lasting team of developers. In the retention stage, we seek incremental improvements and retention over time through client feedback and our training programs. We have significant employee retention programs and benefits like office equipment, paid vacations, personal days, birthdays off, and others that ensure our candidates remain employed for an average of 3 years.
Step 5: Continuous Improvement
The final step is critical for analysis and adjustment:
- Retention analysis: Each case of attrition is examined in a post-mortem report, and the insights gained are implemented.
- Extended guarantee: If you are not satisfied with the quality of our service within one month, we will cancel the first invoice.
- Mbe certified: This certification aims to promote diversity and support minority-owned businesses in the tech industry.
