By: Thaís Trapp

The large number of vacancies available on the Brazilian IT market has led specialists to discuss the reasons for the shortage of workers in the sector. During the ?Technology Workforce Blackout? forum held at the Brazilian Human Resources Association (ABRH), Antônio Gil, president of Brasscom, stressed that one of the biggest problems faced by Brazil is the lack of trained people. ?For the country to export more, qualified people who have mastered English need to come through?, Gil said.

According to Fernando Meirelles, a professor at Fundação Getúlio Vargas, there are currently about 700,000 IT professionals working inside and outside companies in Brazil. ?In time, the industry will need many more qualified people. Within four years the market will need another 520,000 trained professionals?, he says. According to Meirelles, salaries are rising and the more experienced the professional, the higher the built-in costs of their labor. ?The pyramid is being inverted. The sector is going to reach a point where it will pay so much to employees that it will make no profit in the project?, adds Meirelles.

Turnover for IT companies installed in Brazil has grown at an average of 5.7% a year, whilst the services segment has expanded by 8.2% a year. To provide the workers needed, some of the leading companies in the sector have decided to invest in training projects for young people. Government initiatives, such as the Sector Qualification Plan (Planseq), created by the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE) to meet the specific demands of the sectors, and Forsoft, a resource managed by Brasscom from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT), which trains young people for the IT area, also promise to help in expansion of the sector.

?Only about 17,000 computer science students a year graduate from Brazilian universities. At this rate, by 2010 we will not have the number of professionals we need?, says Sérgio Sgobbi, director of Brasscom. According to Sgobbi, the IT industry is an important factor in Brazil?s growth. ?A focused public policy is needed for the IT area. As long as we do not have sufficient government initiatives to foster IT professional training, we will not meet the demand?, Sgobbi warns.