It might sound as a recruitment advertisement in a regional newspaper, but it is a conclusion based on the economic growth of the region and the deficit in the needed infrastructure to continue growing.

Latin America must adapt its training systems to its necessities. Over the past decade it has experienced important increases in its growth rates that need to be supported by more sophisticated human capital.

According to Juan Antonio Cuartero, General Manager of the Spanish company Structuralia to América Economía “the number of engineers and their education is connected with the development of the country. Every year 450.000 to 480.000 engineers graduate in India, However, in Latin America, including Mexico, the number of graduated engineers is close to 150.000. While in Korea one engineer among 650 inhabitants graduates, in Uruguay is one every 8.000, in Argentina one every 6.700, in Mexico one every 6.200 and in Chile one every 4.500.”

Being established in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico and of course, Spain, Structuralia creates strategic alliances with companies, universities and international organizations to educate engineers according to the markets standards. The target pursued is to reach every country in Latin America.

In Chile, the country where this company started developing the region by 2007, they have achieved to grow quickly through an alliance with the Organization of American States (OAS). Such alliance allowed them to generate a scholarship fund of almost a million dollars for those professional with best record to access these programs with benefits that covered from 35% to 50% of the entire cost.

According to the specialist “economic growth, in Chile and in the rest of the countries, will guarantee a good future for engineers. Chile has the most disciplined behaviour in Latin America, is a consolidated country. It does not have such a large growth as Peru and Colombia, but it has great stability. Chile, is still very attractive and strategic for the large Spanish infrastructure groups. Necessities in Chile will continue to exist, because of the reform the government is planning to do. Large companies shall continue investing in Chile, and Chilean engineers will continue to develop without problems.

In countries such as Mexico, Bolivia and Colombia there are two clear needs: more adequate training for the development of infrastructure and a greater amount of engineers. The first need is based on a research done by the World Bank which shows how education in Latin America is far away from the economic needs of its countries. The second necessity is the one that shall guarantee for several years a bright future for Latin American engineers and which will also turn Latin America into an attractive market for European professionals, particularly for Spanish people.

Those who closely follow this issue state that if Latin America dedicates resources for infrastructures, as it is expected, engineers shall two decades of high demand secured. Several governments have plans and some have ongoing projects: Mexico is enduring a railway and an energetic reform, Chile has a large mining industry and is developing maritime plans, Peru, besides mining, is developing infrastructure for terrestrial connectivity; in Colombia there are silver mines and a growing oil industry, Argentina and Brazil have projects connected to mining, oil and energy.

There are five areas with great impulse in Latin America. The first is road infrastructure in general, its construction and maintenance. The second is railway, in some cases through conventional railway infrastructure and in other cases with high speed projects of metropolitan projects. The third is electrical infrastructure, with high tension towers. The fourth is related to energetic infrastructures, such as gas and oil. Last and not least, all these projects need leaders, engineers who may lead complex projects and who me manage efficient projects with public and private investment.

What do Latin American engineers have to say about this? They are optimistic. 65% of them think that the following years shall be good for their professional development. Besides, 56% of those engineers earning highest salaries have supplementary education. Those engineers with complementary training better adjusted to the demand shall be the ones who will earn the highest salaries in the region on the following years.