A report on the industry Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Uruguay revealed that there are 530 companies dedicated to the activity that employ more than 27 thousand people. The workers have a high level of qualification and a significant percentage handle languages.
The study, prepared by the Uruguay XXI Instituteindicated that Uruguay is the largest exporter of software per capita in Latin America and the fourth exporters in dollars in the region.
He added that Uruguay is the country in the region with the highest proportion of people with information technology skills per 10,000 inhabitants (64 people), although it is below the values of the United States of 187 people per 10,000 inhabitants.
The sector brings together 530 companies and according to data from the Ministry of Labor employs 27,400 people. The report stated that when disaggregating participation by company, it was found that most workers are in medium and large companies, which absorb 52% of workers in the sector. The percentage of people in small companies was 13%, while in micro-enterprises it reached 35%.
A year earlier, according to a survey by the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technologies (CUTI)the workers had been 17,500.
Uruguay XXI pointed out that employment in the sector is very intensive in human capital with a high level of qualificationwhich contributes to consider ICTs as a development engine.
He stated that the participation of people who completed university education in the ICT sector was 37% in 2022, when in the total employed population that figure stood at 11%.
In addition, according to information that emerges from the analysis of talents in the ICT sector prepared by Microsoft and CUTI, 61% of people with IT skills in Uruguay have a degree corresponding to undergraduate or graduate degrees, while 17% have with a master’s or doctoral degree.
Regarding employment, he expressed that it is mainly concentrated in IT service tasks, in which software developers, application programmers, system analysts and technicians. He added that the professionals who occupy a very relevant proportion of the job are the electronic engineers.
Languages
Uruguay XXI pointed out that being fluent in several languages has become one of the almost exclusive requirements to work as a provider of IT and other global services.
He mentioned that the analysis of Microsoft and CUTI showed that the 68% of the talents in the sector have knowledge of English. Knowledge of other languages was also identified, such as 15% Portuguese, 4% French, 3% Italian and 2% German.
export opportunities
The report devoted a chapter to export opportunities managed by Uruguay XXI.
He reported that as of April 30 of this year, the agency manages 71 export opportunities within the ICT sector, which represents 32% of the total opportunities in the portfolio. Most correspond to software development or marketing of technological products, while the remaining proportion is linked to the video game industry.
In the market analysis, andl 21% of ICT export opportunities are destined for Paraguay and the same percentage corresponds to video game studios that, due to the dynamics of the sector’s business model, target global platforms and not specific geographic markets. then they follow Mexico about 20%, the United States with 18% and Ecuador and Colombia with 3% each.
