Wages in Argentina’s IT and software services industry rose by a staggering 85% in 2021, as experienced professionals began working remotely for employers overseas amid surging volatility in the country’s forex (foreign exchange) market.
In January 2022, the average monthly salary of an IT worker in the country stood at $210,600 Argentinean pesos, a far bigger figure compared to the $78,000 pesos earned by an average Argentinean household in a month.
The salaries are set to rise further in the coming months , warned local news outlets citing a study published by the Chamber of Argentinean Software Industry (CESSI).
Argentina’s software industry employs more than 130,000 people. Between 2019 and 2021, it generated around 18,000 new jobs.
Wage inflation was largely caused by the depreciating peso, combined with the remote-working trends. Software firms began offering exorbitant salaries after many of their senior employees received remote-working opportunities from foreign companies that pay in dollars.
Sergio Candelo, President of CESSI, said in a press release that the country had accelerated its Software as a Future (SaaF) program in order to increase the number of software professionals to over 400,000 by the end of 2031.
The unstable political climate and a volatile peso have long been a stumbling block for Argentina’s IT services industry, which produced some Latin America’s shining stars, like Globant and Marcado Libre.
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