With a resilient economy that’s forecasting growth despite turbulent times, it’s perhaps no surprise that Latin America is increasingly proving to be a popular investment area for international organisations across a number of sectors, including talent acquisition. Those operating in the pharmaceutical and life sciences field in particular will certainly have their eyes on this destination as the region’s healthcare market goes from strength to strength.
According to recent reports, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the pharmaceutical industry in Latin America is projected to reach 9.3% over the next 10 years. The over-the-counter pharmaceutical market in the area is also expected to grow, with a projected CAGR of 8.64% between 2016 and 2022.
However, while there’s clearly plenty of opportunity in this destination, talent acquisition, engagement and management is undoubtedly a struggle.
A talent drought
Arguably the biggest challenge facing hirers is a severe shortage of talent. As the World Economic Forum on Latin America highlights, the area has a worrying lack of skilled workers which is, in turn, creating a middle income trap, further stunting talent progression.
In this environment, developing a strong candidate value proposition is certainly going to be crucial. As I mentioned in my last blog, authentic, credible and favourable CVPs are the cornerstone of targeted talent acquisition strategies. Individuals want a personalised experience with a potential employer, while also getting the greatest possible insight into the corporate culture and why it’s the best place for them to work.
While strong CVPs are certainly broadly valuable, for areas experiencing a skills shortage, they are an imperative. And with the competition for experienced talent much more intense in Latin America than most other areas, the speed of recruitment processes is crucial. Hiring managers need to be able to make a decision quickly before high performing individuals are lured away by other brands.
Of course, continually fighting for a share of talent in a diminishing pool is not necessarily a sustainable approach and any organisation seeking to operate in the area will need to consider how they can adapt talent strategies in order to utilise international contingent workers in the short term and invest in upskilling local talent in the medium to long term.
Areas of development
In this respect, there are a lot of takeaways that experienced global hiring experts can use to speed up talent development in Latin America. As an emerging economy, the concept of recruitment process outsourcing is relatively immature. In fact, as we’re building solutions in the region we’re facing similar challenges to those we experienced a decade ago in more mature markets. For example, many hirers in the region are yet to support what we deem to be crucial strategies such as role segmentation (i.e. separation of candidate sourcing and administration as specialist functions), employer branding and talent analytics, all features of high performing talent acquisition functions.
While there’s certainly a level of education needed, I’d argue that given the global developments we’ve seen in more mature markets, it’s possible to take our key learnings and guide hirers in Latin America to drive faster progress and transformation. While the region might be experiencing talent challenges that other markets resolved ten years ago, it should not take a decade to address these and bring the Latin American market up to speed with higher performing economies.
If we take the likes of talent analytics as a case in point, it has taken a lot of resources, research and, arguably, trial and error, to reach a point where data can influence total talent workforce strategies. Rather than leave employers in Latin America to do the same, I would argue that those with this prior experience and understanding have a duty to pass this knowledge on for the benefit of a region that will only continue to grow in importance for global businesses.
