Hiring Engineers in Latin America

There are three key reasons to work with Latin American talent:

Same time zone
One in three people who struggle with remote work is due to different time zones and the challenges it brings in coordination and communication. This has a profound impact on how we see global work. Whereas before economic activity could be split between the northern hemisphere (US, EU) and the southern hemisphere (Latam, Africa), the right split right now is in timezones. If you are in the US, it is much easier to overlap work schedules with someone in Bogota than with someone in Berlin.

Latam Talent is growing alongside its internet economy.
Latam is big. The total GDP of the region is greater than the US, with Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile making up 80% of it. Internet penetration in Latam is bigger than in China and India, approaching the levels of developed nations (for example, Germany has a 95% internet penetration. In comparison, Chile has an internet penetration at  92%, the same as the US).
After a slow start to their internet economy, the region now has multiple companies valued at over 1B. The top 10 highest-valued Latin American Tech unicorns raised 9B collectively and are worth a combined 42B of valuation.

All these factors together combine to generate a pool of incredibly talented people well trained, interested, and increasingly knowledgeable in building successful technology companies for very big markets.  

Retention
In the US, turnover and churn can be up to 50% higher in tech than on average in the US. And while employee tenure hovers around four years on average in the US, it is closer to 2 years for the tech industry. 

One of the fascinating outcomes of starting Matilda is discovering that our engineers have a churn rate of close to 1% even after two years of placement.  

Why is retention so high for Matilda placements?

One reason is that technology companies are very popular in the region, especially those based in the U.S.: 16% of college grads in the region want to work at a startup , and 11% at big tech companies. This was zero a decade ago.

The second reason is that the region has remained focused on remote first jobs, even post-pandemic: 65% of open positions are remote. For regional tech, about 80% is either fully remote or more than 50% remote. 

The third reason is the quality of matches: by being thoughtful in our matches, Matilda ensures there is alignment between companies and talent, which increases tenure and reduces churn. 

For more market and regional data, See https://www.atlantico.vc/latin-america-digital-transformation-report-2022