Few start-ups remain in Barcelona don’t talk about the lack of “talent & rdquor; as one of the biggest obstacles facing the sector. But there are also few multinationals that do not refer precisely to “talent & rdquor; as one of the reasons why they have set up innovation centers here.
On the one hand, “there is no senior talent that can solve very complicated technological problems” and “the university does not produce enough graduates of this profile & rdquor ;, lamented a few months ago the co-founder of Glovo, oscar pierre. On the other hand, “investment in our country is further proof of the high qualification of our professionals and of our ability to become a pole of attraction for talent”, valued the president of microsoft in Spain, Alberto Granados, announcing that the technology giant was setting up an R&D center in the city. They have also referred to “talent” Universal Robots, Teladoc Healthcare, Ypsomed either schneider electric before similar decisions; and “talent” have suffered in public Factorial, Vilynx, N26 either how much. What is happening, then, with talent?
“A very contradictory situation is taking place in Spain: there are a lot of unfilled positions in many sectors (also in hospitality and tourism), but at the same time there is 40% youth unemployment & rdquor ;, introduces the expert professor in HR of EAE Business School, Pilar Llacer. In the specific case of technology professionals -who are normally referred to when “talent” is mentioned-, a study of the VASS Foundation and of the Autonomous University of Madrid speaks of 7,000 unfilled vacancies last year in Spain, a gap that they attribute to a lack of skills. “It has been more than six years since the number of computer science places in public universities has increased,” completes Llàcer, who clarifies, however, that the problem has many other sources.
First, the cultural one: the most common thing, explains the professor, is that a recent graduate looks for companies with a brand to access the labor market, and a very small ‘start-up’ is usually still unknown, in addition to being closely associated with instability . Added to this is the fact that many companies still view the technical profiles trained in the VET and that there are many people who do not speak English well, which is an essential language in these environments.
“It costs a lot for people to lean towards this type of activity and, in addition, training is quite unrelated to what is day to day & rdquor ;, analyzes, in turn, the director of HR, talent and communications of Adevinta (owner group of Infojobs and Fotocasa, among others), Susana Vincent. “At the structural level we need an important change, which is the connection of what happens in universities or educational centers with what is going to be reality later & rdquor ;, adds this directive, explaining in passing that the technology in which he works has decided to tackle the problem by launching its own training programs.
Excess of demand
The problem, adds the director general of Active Barcelona, Felix Ortega, is that it is no longer just technology companies that are looking for technical profiles, but almost all companies are beginning to need to incorporate digital professionals. “This means that the demand is increasing and that the educational system cannot produce the talent that the market needs & rdquor ;, he explains.
Now, this expert points out in the first place that work is being done on it (since opening its own programming school, the IT Academyeven collaborating with initiatives such as code.org or participating in Welcome Desk, a one-stop shop that aims to streamline the procedures for hiring foreigners) and, second, that the deficit is not only in Barcelona. “This is part of global dynamics” -Ortega points out-, that they catch us with “a very well positioned citywhich generates very good talent and who plays in the most competitive league& rdquor ;, he affirms.
That would explain why the lack of technological professionals does not discourage the multinationals that land in the city. Because the head of the center that Ypsomed has just opened in the Catalan capital, Raphael Navajo, offers the same reasoning. “Many companies are looking for human capital, and the good thing about Barcelona is that it still has it: there are other cities where there isn’t any”, says the manager, who also points to the attraction offered by the city’s universities, its technology centers and the number of companies from booming sectors operating here.
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“Barcelona as a city attracts a lot and has been a nursery for big ‘start-ups’: we are a place where there is talent, what happens is that there is a lot of competition,” agrees Vicente, the spokesperson for Adevinta. “This is not a Barcelona issue, it is a Europe issue: there is an explosion in the level of demand for IT activity, this explosion generates a greater demand for resources and the training centers are not enough”, confirms Navajo. “There are difficulties with supply because there is a brutal increase in demand,” insists the manager.
What to improve? According to Llàcer, to bet decisively on FP. “Clear guidance is needed: if these are the careers with the most opportunities, of course all institutions have to support the production of what the market demands,” says the EAE professor. And, of course, more languages: “If we want to be a international hub and play in the international league, we have to be international & rdquor ;, concludes Navajo.