The talent shortage in the tech sector is hitting businesses hard. Are you feeling the impact? With 86% of CIOs facing fierce competition for tech talent and the U.S. talent gap projected to hit 1.2 million by 2026, the demand for skilled workers is higher than ever. And it doesn’t stop there. Retaining workers is another hurdle, as only 29% of IT employees plan to stay with their current employers.
This talent shortage is leading to costly disruptions and widening the talent gap for companies worldwide.
So, how can businesses secure the tech skills they need to thrive? Nearshoring offers a strategic, future-focused solution. In this article, we’ll see how nearshore teams can help bridge the tech talent gap and keep your organization ahead.
What is the Tech Talent Shortage?
The tech talent shortage is the growing gap between the demand for skilled workers in tech and the number of qualified people available to fill those roles.
By 2025, it seems this challenge will continue to disrupt companies, making it harder to hire for technical jobs like AI, software development, and IT.
This shortage slows projects, drives up hiring costs, and puts companies at risk of falling behind competitors. According to Statista, over 54% of organizations reported a persistent skills shortage in 2023, with no signs of easing.
For businesses relying on tech to stay competitive, the struggle to hire and retain top talent impacts not just growth but survival. Addressing this shortage is essential for the future of work and success, and understanding this challenge is the first step to tackling it effectively.
Learn how Agile Nearshoring can transform your projects with flexibility, speed, and top-tier talent.
What’s Driving the Tech Talent Shortage?
With AI advancing fast and the demand for skilled workers skyrocketing, businesses are struggling to keep up. The gap between open jobs and qualified people keeps growing, leaving companies grappling to fill technical roles. Let’s explore what’s behind this challenging scenario.
Rapid Technological Advancements
The tech industry moves at lightning speed, with new technologies, like AI, emerging and evolving faster than many organizations can deal with. For companies, keeping up with these changes is tough, no matter their size.
Finding workers with the right skills to match these new tech tools and trends can feel like an exhausting battle. Small startups and large corporations alike are grappling with this issue as they try to stay competitive while managing skill gaps.
This fast pace of change demands flexibility, training, and strategic hiring. Overall, it’s a challenge that affects everyone and emphasizes the need to plan ahead and build solid, adaptable tech teams in the most profitable way.
Lack of Training Programs
Many companies struggle to find time and resources to upskill their workforce, especially when technology evolves so fast. Training programs can be expensive, time-consuming, and often don’t cover the latest, specialized technical skills businesses need.
For example, outdated training methods, limited access to specific resources, and the speed at which technologies like AI evolve.
This is why nearshore and staff augmentation services come in handy. These solutions can save you both time and money, as you don't have to deal with onboarding and training processes that may take months. You can tap into ready-to-go, skilled tech workers proficient in the latest technologies who are already trained and equipped to help.
Geographical Disparities in Tech Talent
While some areas are overflowing with skilled tech talent, others lack access to the same level of talent, creating imbalances that hinder business growth. For many organizations, this creates challenges, especially in North America, where competition is fierce, and finding the right worker in certain areas can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Many workers prioritize opportunities in well-known tech hubs, making it even harder to close this gap. That’s the reason why nearshore and staff augmentation services are a strategic move. They give companies access to skilled workers across Latin America, breaking through these geographical barriers. With the right support, businesses can build strong, efficient tech teams without location being an obstacle.
How Does the Tech Talent Shortage Affect Companies?
The shortage of tech talent is changing how businesses operate. Organizations face rising costs, stiffer competition for skilled workers, and slowed innovation. So, how do these challenges impact a company’s future?
Innovation Stagnation
Innovation often takes a back seat when companies face a talent shortage. With skilled workers, organizations can launch new ideas. Besides frustrating, it’s costly. Competition is fierce, and as technical skills become harder to find, companies risk falling behind competitors who can innovate faster.
Teams need more time to recruit workers, and even when they hire, onboarding and training can further slow progress, leaving organizations stuck. With nearshoring, businesses tackle the talent issue and get the agility needed to stay ahead with skilled, pre-trained people ready to work.
Rising Costs of Recruitment
Hiring tech talent is getting more expensive and fast! Companies are competing harder than ever, offering higher salaries, bonuses, and perks to attract the right people. Even when you find the perfect candidate, onboarding and training costs add up incredibly quickly.
This growing financial pressure can put organizations in a tough spot, especially when trying to scale and stay competitive. Talent recruitment costs are rising, and the competition shows no signs of slowing. It’s a challenge that’s hard to ignore. Nearshoring services offer a great solution, providing skilled, ready-to-work teams that can integrate with yours, cutting down both recruitment costs and training time.
Competition for Qualified Professionals
The competition for talent in tech is fierce, and it’s getting harder for U.S. companies to compete. Many qualified professionals are flocking to big tech hubs, where the opportunities and salaries are hard to beat. As a result, businesses outside these major cities find it tough to attract the skilled workers they need.
Even with strong incentives, the pool isn’t big enough to meet the growing demand for tech talent. This puts pressure on organizations, slowing innovation and increasing costs. The good news is that nearshoring services can help companies tap into skilled talent from other regions, making it easier to build the teams they need to stay competitive.
Read this to learn how nearshore staff augmentation transforms the tech industry's future! Unlock key insights on benefits, challenges, and trends driving innovation.
Strategies to Overcome the Tech Talent Shortage
Addressing the talent shortage requires proactive strategies. Companies can tackle this challenge by focusing on people development, offering upskilling opportunities, and building partnerships with schools and universities. These efforts strengthen technical skills and create a sustainable pipeline to meet the increasing demand for tech talent in the future. So, let’s see how IT can overcome the tech talent shortage.
Upskilling and Reskilling Current Employees
One of the best ways to tackle the shortage of tech talent is by focusing on the growth of people. At Jalasoft, upskilling and reskilling are at the core of our strategy to bridge the talent gap. Through our Practice Groups, we prioritize continuous learning to ensure our people stay ahead of tech trends.
These groups help define clear career paths, identify skills gaps, and recommend training opportunities tailored to every professional’s needs. One example is Developer Week, a five-day internal event that brought together over 200 engineers for learning, networking, and collaboration. With 15 expert speakers and interactive workshops, this initiative highlighted the importance of continuous development and teamwork.
This commitment to growth ensures our staff have the skills they need to succeed while creating opportunities to close the gap in tech talent. Through initiatives like these, Jalasoft is equipping teams with technical expertise, adaptability, and innovation to tackle the challenges of the future.
Collaboration with Educational Institutions
At Jalasoft, we're proud to collaborate with Jala University, where we nurture the next generation of skilled tech professionals. Through educational programs (such as our University Degrees and bootcamps) and scholarships, we're helping close the skills gap by giving individuals the tools needed for today’s tech jobs.
Over the years, the Jala group has run 80 bootcamp sessions and offered 110 specialized training programs. Jala University is selective, accepting only the top 2% of applicants to ensure we’re shaping the best in the tech industry. Our graduates, with practical experience and up-to-date skills, are ready to step into demanding tech jobs with confidence.
So, by combining education, training, and industry collaboration, we’re creating opportunities that benefit individuals and businesses alike. Investing in education today solves the talent shortage and ensures companies gain access to skilled, motivated workers.
Exploring the Future of Tech Talent Access
The future of tech talent access will depend on adaptability, innovation, and strategic planning. With the demand for skilled professionals growing faster than ever, some big questions arise: Can AI help close the tech skills gap? And Which skills are in demand in IT now?
AI is already helping bridge the gap. It can identify what skills are missing, predict future workforce needs, and personalized employee training programs. And while AI can’t replace human expertise, it’s a great tool to help businesses stay ahead.
Currently, IT skills in high demand include AI, cybersecurity, data analysis, cloud computing, and full-stack development. Companies must focus on equipping their teams with these capabilities to remain competitive.
However, the challenge extends beyond identifying these skills. Tech workers are leaving jobs at an unprecedented rate, with turnover in the industry reaching as high as 18.3% to jobs that offer better pay, benefits, and flexibility, leaving companies grappling to train new hires repeatedly.
And the bigger picture? By 2030, theglobal talent shortage could hit 85 million people, according to Korn Ferry. That’s a shocking number and a wake-up call for businesses to rethink how they attract and retain tech talent.
One trend helping organizations meet these challenges is nearshore services. Nearshoring allows businesses to tap into skilled tech talent in nearby regions, offering faster hiring, reduced costs, and straightforward integration processes. Enterprises investing in nearshore talent will have a competitive edge in accessing the necessary skills.
Addressing the Tech Talent Shortage
At Jalasoft, we make finding highly qualified tech talent easier than ever, connecting businesses with the top 2% of Tech Talent in Latin America. With over 20 years of experience, a global presence spanning 70 cities across 13 countries, and a team of more than 1,000 South America-based software engineers, we’re dedicated to helping businesses tackle the biggest tech challenges.
Our nearshore services ensure you access skilled professionals while optimizing performance and collaboration. Don’t let the talent shortage slow your growth, and partner with us to harness your organization’s potential. Contact us today and discover how Jalasoft can make a difference in your business growth!
