In my 20 years leading nearshoring projects for software development and working closely with engineers in Central America, I have seen how this profession has created what I call a “new middle class”.
The demand for software development services globally guarantees above-average salaries, good working conditions, and greater employment opportunities.
In Costa Rica, I have found that software engineers can earn from $3000 per month and up, and for senior professionals, the wages can increase to over $8000 per month. This allows them to rent comfortable apartments, buy their own house, travel abroad, provide private education for their children, save, and make investments.
The same seems to be true in other Latin American countries. During the current economic crisis in Argentina, for example, a study by the Argentine Software Industry Chamber (CESSI) revealed that, as of January 2023, the median salary of people working in the IT sector was twice the value of the Total Basic Basket for a 5-member household, as well as salaries in the private sector in general.
Local talent for large global companies
Currently, the main software markets are the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and China. This is an advantage if we consider that most of the jobs for engineers are remote, allowing Costa Rican professionals to work for large North American, European, or Asian companies.
In the United States, for example, the San Francisco Bay Area paid the highest average annual salaries in 2022 for roles related to Software Engineering, both locally and remote positions, with $180 thousand and $176 thousand per year respectively.
Why do software engineers earn good salaries?
Software professionals are in high demand in today’s job market. According to Gartner, software and IT services will drive $4.5 billion in global IT spending this year.
Engineers promote innovation and drive change, generating high productivity and efficiency tools for customers ranging from large corporations to everyday users. The new world is in their hands and the solutions from their intellect, eager to create solutions to humanity’s many problems.
In simple words, the duties of a software engineer are to design and develop different programs, applications, and systems using programming languages and tools such as Java, JavaScript, C++, .NET, and Python. If you have a smartphone, tablet, or computer, you are undoubtedly enjoying the result of the work of many software engineers.
But not all software engineers do the same thing. For example, there are Blockchain engineers, cybersecurity specialists, mobile app developers, machine learning engineers, AI experts, data scientists, and front-end and back-end engineers who optimize the user experience on a website or app.
In that sense, salaries change even within the sector. Nevertheless, positions for software engineers and developers occupied more than half of Glassdoor’s list of top jobs in 2022.
Costa Rica urgently needs to graduate and specialize more software engineers.
Software engineers have skills – born or learned – that are highly valued by companies: coding and programming, problem-solving, creative out-of-the-box thinking, ability to work in teams, and vision for the future.
Precisely because of their specific skills, they can bring knowledge and innovation to industries such as Fintech, tourism, hospitality, medical and pharmaceutical, health and wellness, transportation and logistics, entertainment and media, retail, and, in general, all e-commerce, and all type of businesses.
Jobs in software development, and in technology in general, are the engine that is and will continue to transform Costa Rica if we invest enough in STEM education and graduate many more engineers soon.
By next year, the global population of developers is expected to reach 28.7 million; and our country must join the trend. Moreover, this drive must be inclusive and seek to close the gender gap.
A BairesDev study in 2022 identified an increase from 11% to 41% in the participation of women for technical and non-technical roles. To me, this means that there are now more women in tech companies, but it still not enough.
In fact, it is estimated that more than 90% of software developers are men, and I can say, from experience, that in Costa Rica in particular, the people who compete for positions in software development projects are, almost entirely, men.
Encouraging more women – and men – to study and work in STEM areas would allow regions like Central America to have all the possible talent and generate greater economic value.
If we do not do so, and we sleep on our tracks, what will happen is that those resources – highly skill software engineers and their startups – will leave the country and benefit the nations that do welcome them. And that is a luxury that Costa Rica cannot afford.
** This article was first published in Spanish by La República in Costa Rica.
Professional technologist with over twenty years of experience leading technology teams building products for active traders and investors in the financial trading and securities markets both in the US and Japan. Avid technologist and passionate about helping professionals or companies succeed by mentoring directly or as part of professional organizations.
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