By Martin Padulla for staffingamericalatina

It could be the title of a series of paintings by the surrealist painter Rene Magritte. In the painting that illustrates this column, Magritte shows us through contradiction that the image is only the representation of the object; that reality is deeper and more complex than images and texts.

This is not a pipe reminds us, according to the Belgian surrealist, that “images are incomplete, but nevertheless they sometimes deceive us, they betray us”.

The apparent contradiction invites reflection. There are phrases that become images after being repeated so many times. One, repeated ad nauseam, is the one that refers to the lack of talent.

We are facing something much more profound, a talent crisis, a phenomenon that has many facets. Only one of them, in some parts of the world, can be defined as a shortage of talent. In other parts of the world, the talent crisis manifests itself in other forms.
Let us look at some of the observable phenomena.

• There is a maldistribution of talent

There is a demand for skills that cannot be met. There is talent with these skills that cannot find the right environment in which to develop. The key is the location variable. Technology and remote working are solving that.

• There is a lack of expertise on the part of policy makers to promote the talent that each country and even each city needs.

They do not connect training needs with production needs for goods and services. They do not explore relevance and develop growth strategies from outdated paradigms. Once again, technology and remote work are partly solving so much inefficiency.

• There is migration, refugees, mobility

The world is in turmoil. The events in Ukraine regarding the mobility of people in general are in addition to those in Syria or Venezuela. Talent is on the move, needs are on the move. A huge challenge and a better opportunity.

• Some countries and cities are more competitive than others

The world today is divided into places where taxes are increased to finance inefficient state bureaucracies and places where the same taxes are reduced to allow companies to set up businesses that generate diverse forms of work for citizens. In some countries, competition is internal, between states, and the mobility of organisations and individuals is notorious with strong impacts on multiple aspects

• Skills gaps exist

Stages of greater or lesser difference between what the labour market demands and what the education system produces in terms of skills. This is due to the fact that many countries and cities are actively and systematically working to reduce this gap, while others have not even identified it. In all cases, there is a need for. Skilling, reskilling and upskilling will be indispensable and efficient if only if they focus on relevance.

• There are different jobs with high levels of informality

7 out of 10 jobs created in the pandemic in our region are informal. New forms of work are informal from the point of view of the regulatory frameworks of traditional employment. It is necessary to work on a decent work agenda that includes the new forms of adding value. We are witnessing a self-employment revolution with a significant deficit of labour rights. Workertechs are supplanting the state by providing sets of benefits for gig economy workers. Portable and transferable rights in fragmented working careers will be essential if we are to have a people-based recovery.

The world in general and our region in particular is at a turning point. In a context of great complexity, uncertainty, volatility and ambiguity, we are standing at a sharp fork in the road. The choice between these two paths is crucial for the future of our societies.
Magritte, Belgium and these themes bring me straight to the next World Employment Conference on 31 May in Brussels. Connecting expectations between workers and employers is the challenge. Technologies, employability and skills, change management, diversity and inclusion and the new world of work will be the topics to be addressed.
At staffingamericalatina we are proud to be partners of this event. I will be happy to share the highlights of the most prestigious voices in the world.