The greater interest in studying social sciences and the lesser inclination for training in technical or scientific areas may be partly because of the preference of professionals for employment in a government institution rather than in the private sector.
According to data from the National Council of Rectors (Conare), between 2006 and 2016, in Costa Rica the careers in the area of Social Sciences registered the highest growth according to the proportion of graduates, going from 36.2% to 45.5% of the total number of students.
Among the professionals most required by companies in Guatemala, but the most difficult to find, are computer technicians, engineers in mining and construction, and professionals with doctorates in coffee and other agricultural products.
The study entitled "Talent Gaps 2017", prepared by the Foundation for the Development of Guatemala (Fundesa), details that the academic profile required by employers can be summarized by the fact that 65% of companies need staff with qualifications, 68% of employees with a technical level, and 75% of companies require professionals with a bachelor's degree.
Sales, operations and production are the areas in which Guatemalan entrepreneurs face the most difficulties in recruiting staff with the necessary skills.
Leadership, the ability to make decisions and to identify and solve problems are the skills most required by companies in Guatemala, and the most difficult ones to find when hiring staff.
Companies are struggling to find employees with skills in information technology, programming and networking, electricity, processing and assembly of medical parts.
The Talent Shortage study (2014) by Manpower notes that "... 51% of the 620 Costa Rican employers surveyed said they can not find suitable professionals to perform the tasks required by their company." The main cause, according to the contractors, is lack of technical skills.
The speed with which the Panamanian economy is developing is demanding skilled labour which, at the moment, the country is unable to supply.
The lack of qualified people in the areas of technology, software development and telecommunications is one of the challenges facing Panama as a consequence of its economic growth.
An article in Revistaitnow.com explains that "the IT sector in Panama consists mainly of the segments of software development, telecommunications, specialized services such as call centers and data centers which rely on the competitive advantages that the country has, but that does not mean that it can develop them alone. "
In Costa Rica there are currently more than 400 people employed in this sector, with a reported unmet demand for another 3000.
The study "Skills in networking and connectivity in Latin America", conducted by IDC for the company Cisco, reveals that there is currently a 43% gap between demand and actual supply of these professionals, which by 2015 could rise to 47 %.
Companies need to invest time and money in order to cover the serious limitations of graduates from the public school system, which is an obstacle to development.
In Panama the educational problem has already been diagnosed. Martesfinanciero.com reports that the country has at least 14 diagnostic and prognostic documents on education, but "none have managed to be implemented completely to produce students with an optimal or acceptable level of knowledge which allows them to have the skills demanded from the labor market. "
Facing a lack of specialized technicians, representatives from private companies are motivating students to train in technical careers and foster the development of new specialties.
Given the need for technical personnel in the province of Alajuela, businesses from the free zone area El Coyol, held a meeting with senior students encouraging them to train in the technical specialties necessary for the productive sector.
There are plenty of applicants for the posts, but there are few who are really qualified to meet the demands of each job.
A study entitled 'Lack of Talent 2011' by the firm Manpower Group shows that 30% of companies in Costa Rica say they have trouble finding certain types of staff such as technicians, salesmen and secretaries with the required skills.
Training of qualified personnel at all levels is absolutely insufficient to meet the demand of an economy with such high growth rates.
In Panama, the gap between demand and supply of employment, both in quantity and quality, is expanding at the same pace as the growing list of infrastructure projects in execution, which is increasing the arrival of multinational companies, saturating hotels with the number of business travelers and tourists.
Enrollment in IT courses at the Technological University of Panama has grown by 26%.
The increase in the number of students in choosing careers in one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy is one of the first results from the implementation the National ICT Strategy, launched in 2008.
An article in Revistaitnow.com notes: "part of the strategy launched by the " ICT Start your life, " campaign targeted the student population to encourage them to pursue careers in technology and thus help stem the decline in enrolment, seeing that the country needs 25,000 professionals in the field. "
The number of professionals working abroad jumped 78% in 2010 when compared to 2009.
According to data from the 2010 remittances survey, published by the International Migration Organization, 7.273 Guatemalan professionals are working abroad, a 78% increase versus the 4.078 registered in 2009. Additionally, there are 9.303 workers with uncompleted college studies.
Salvadoran firms require skilled labor, engineers and bilingual accounting professionals.
Marco Penado, general manager of Manpower El Salvador, said that human resources in need by businesses do not match with what the universities are producing.
Within the 10 most requested jobs there are:
- Skilled labor (carpenters, welders, electricians)
- Sales Agents
More professionals and technicians are needed to meet demand for specialists with the opening of the country's mobile telephony sector.
The shortage was envisaged by specialists consulted by El Financiero. They believe that the current supply of cell phone market professionals and technical experts will not be sufficient to cover the demand created by the market opening, both in terms of the number of specialists, years of experience and their level of expertise.
A lack of specialist professionals and technicians combined with poor levels of English is making the country less competetive.
Data analyzed from the latest Job Fair organized by El Salvador's Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with the Ministry for Employment, indicate that attendees qualifications, technical understanding and level of English were often below that sought by hiring companies.
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