IT Exports Boom in Uruguay Despite Talent Shortage

Annual IT exports from Uruguay topped US$1 billion for the first time, with export earnings increasing 12% year-on-year.

Thanks to rising export earnings, Uruguay’s IT/software export sector now accounts for 3.3% of the country’s GDP.

According to the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (CUTI), the foreign subsidiaries of Uruguayan IT companies generated US$51 million in export earnings during the period.

The United States is the top export market for IT companies, accounting for more than 59% of Uruguay’s export earnings.

Exports of services to Chile, Colombia, and the United Kingdom also showed a clear upward trend, reported news outlet Ambito.

Despite increasing exports, the IT sector in Uruguay suffers from a serious shortage of qualified workers. The industry has only been able to hire 2,000 new employees since early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began to stoke demand for digital transformation services worldwide.

Today, Uruguay’s national IT workforce numbers at 17,000, with the latest report confirming a significant increase in the number of female workers in the industry.

Female professionals now make up 34% of the national IT workforce, up 6% from 2020.

Argentina’s Globant and India’s Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are the largest IT companies exporting services from Uruguay. A large majority of these foreign companies have set up their offices in free zones where they are exempt from taxes.