War for talent will intensify in 2023, but with lower salary offers

“Supply and Demand in the working market will push a reduction in wages”, warns Juan Domínguez, partner and director of True Search for Latin America.

According to the specialist, this year companies will continue in a war for the best talent, especially in the field of digital profiles, but given a massive reduction in jobs in some sectors, it is likely that the availability of labor will be higher and that has an impact on the salary offer.

But this will not be the only challenge for recruiting this year. “The second challenge is that there will be people who will transition from traditional companies to startups and backwards. It is very difficult for people who come from world startup adapt to the rigid models of traditional companies”, explains the executive.

In 2022, a boom hiring in some sectors, but the other side of the coin is that in the technology sector there was a reorganization of various profiles. “In 2023 I think that the salary levels that had been growing unsustainably will stabilize, it seems that the bubble has burst a bit, but the macroeconomic situation is also causing that bubble to shrink and the players who did well in the season remain. homework,” says Alejandro Paz, Robert Walters country manager in Mexico.

The specialist underlines that throughout this year the technology industry, particularly the world of startupsyou could face a great movement of talentwhich will generate a greater availability of profiles in the market, mainly for management positions.

However, despite this, it is likely that not all talent can be absorbed by the market. In this context, Juan Domínguez considers that the independent consulting services They could have an upturn as a refuge in the face of the difficulty of reintegrating into a formal square.

Furthermore, to the equation of the recruitment challenges an additional element is added: the war for talent and the competition itself among professionals will maintain its growth on a global scale. “The biggest and probably scary trend is that we are no longer competing with people from the same country. When looking for a Human Capital director, you will not only look for a Mexican or an Argentine, the pool of talent becomes more regional”, he indicates.

Regardless of this scenario, considers Alejandro Paz, what will not change this year is the list of skills that companies will prioritize in candidates for executive positions. “They are going to continue looking for agility in decision-making, flexibility in strategies and they are going to look at profiles with a business partner dynamic.”

From the perspective of Juan Domínguez, the search for executive profiles it is linked to digital thinking and that will not be the exception this year. While managerial talent may be more likely to relocate to another company between downsizing, it will be important for them to develop digital skills.

Lack of adequate talent… and training

According to Business Perceptions Monitoring At Vestiga Consultores, 27% of business leaders in Mexico believe they have the right talent at managerial level and 31% think that “more or less” have it.

To this we must add that the 62% of executives He believes that there is a poor availability to select and recruit the right profiles for managerial positions.

For the partner and director of True Search for Latin America, this shortage of talent is also linked to a debt with the internal development of collaborators. “Large companies have the need to have digital skills in their people and there is a debt in the formation of digital skills in the people who are in companies and there is no development to think digitally and that is leading to a rupture in the succession, where new actors enter traditional companies and the replacement tables scheme is being broken”.

But the shortage of suitable talent is also linked to the academic lag as a result of the pandemic, says Alejandro Paz. “Over time, there is a gap in professionals who are missing precisely because of this situation. In addition, the companies that come with sustained growth are companies that implemented training strategies very strong”, points out the country manager of Robert Walters Mexico.