Puerto Rico Tech Talent 2030

[Insights and Opportunities]

After living abroad for seven years, I returned to fulfill Ironhack's mission to help people transform their careers and join a thriving community of tech professionals who love what they do. After a few months back on the island connecting with companies to understand how we can support their workforce development, we partnered with El Comeback and Endeavor to connect with those hiring talent with the goal of understanding the employers' challenges. We created a peer-to-peer learning space: Puerto Rico Tech Talent 2030.

We started by sharing some data on the technology workforce.

• 2.8% vs. 10% PR's workforce in 21st-century positions vs. similar markets average.
• 50% of recent graduates feel underqualified to apply for jobs and need access to upskilling opportunities.?
• Just 21% of PR women are in tech.

And asked... What would happen if NOTHING CHANGES by 2030? What keeps you up at night about hiring tech talent?

[OBSTACLES] Conversations around the room highlighted key challenges:

1. Lack of Talent Data: Real-time data-sharing platforms must be present, hindering collaboration and information access about talent data.
2. Skill Set Deficiency: Junior-level professionals in software development, data science, and specialized technologies require enhancement, yet there are limited educational avenues available. Additionally, there is a notable shortage of soft skills among candidates.
3. Remote Work Preference: Talent often prefers remote opportunities; finding local professionals open to hybrid with the needed skills is challenging, usually leading to outsourcing.
4. Talent Retention: Retaining and attracting professionals poses a challenge, emphasizing the need for learning and development programs.?
5. Salary Discrepancies: Differences in salaries between Puerto Rico and the US and candidates' misunderstanding of negotiation create obstacles.

[OPPORTUNITIES] Solutions from roundtable discussions include collaborative opportunities:

1. Improve Talent Screening: Implement skills-based hiring to assess candidate quality, considering technical and soft skills over a traditional degree.?
2. Community-Aligned Learning: Align learning initiatives with community and employers' needs, with an opportunity to establish pre-interview preparation centers.
3. Flexible Remote Work: Advocate for island-wide flexibility in remote or hybrid work models to promote work-life balance.
4. Cross-Company Collaboration: Encourage sharing business intelligence among companies to foster collaboration on tech talent pool growth.?
5. Talent Development Programs: Create more programs focusing on software development, data analytics, AI, and niche skill sets. While also developing soft skills like leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, and adaptability.

How can we build tech talent pools??

The ideas were endless, and a sense of commitment made me reaffirm that Puerto Rico wants actions that impact the present by building for the future.

From Ironhack, we support companies by speeding talent hiring, onboarding, and training with custom talent pools based on our partners' needs. For Accenture in Spain, we created a women's talent pool of 25 trained in Java to help them increase diversity within their workforce.?

We also help partner companies assess their talent needs and create upskilling and reskilling programs that are aligned with their business growth roadmap.?

What's happening in and out of Puerto Rico??

The 21st Century Techforce initiative and WIOA under Conexion Laboral of the Department of Economic Development of Puerto Rico are two initiatives transforming Puerto Rico's tech talent pool. They aim to impact 50,000 individuals. Their vision is for Puerto Rico to become a leader in digital talent and to rank among the top 10 states/territories for 21st-century talent by training an additional skilled workforce in the next ten years.

We're not the only ones thinking about this: Singapore's recent $743 million AI investment over five years and Verizon's customized programs for high-demand roles aim to reach 500,000 individuals by 2030.?At Ironhack, we work with many governments, such as Spain, Germany, and Saudi Arabia, to build their technology workforce.

From Ironhack, we want to impact 1,000 in the following years. This is ambitious but important for Puerto Rico. Ultimately, we all want the same thing: Puerto Rico's talent to stay, innovate, and push the economy forward.

To connect over tech talent programs, feel free to send me a request or [email protected]