News

First CORFO Job Fair 2009:
Multinationals seek to employ 300 technology professionals and technicians
Published: January 15, 2009

The participants were young people who completed their intensive English training provided by CORFO Scholarships, and others on the National Register of English Speakers.

Oracle, Experian, Evaluaserve, Everis, EDS, Orion, Tata Consultancy, CSC and Readsoft are foreign enterprises located in Chile, seeking 300 Information Technology (IT) professionals and technicians. These companies attended the First CORFO Job Fair, which took place on Thursday 8th of January this year, organised by the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO). The purpose of the event was to facilitate the contracting of qualified human resources for the global services industry.

The event, which took place at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Santiago, involved 550 individual job interviews. These had been previously arranged between the companies and young people who completed their intensive English training using scholarships awarded by CORFO. In addition, a number of professionals attended who are on the National Register of English Speakers; CORFO has been developing this since 2004, and currently there are 38,000 Chileans registered.

The event was opened by CORFO's executive vice-president (CEO), Carlos Álvarez, in the presence of important figures in the industry. It is part of government efforts to strengthen the emerging Global Services (offshoring) industry, which is one of the clusters or sectors prioritized due to its high potential for growth. The sector's potential is estimated at five times its current size, which makes it an important opportunity for the generation of skilled jobs. Today, there are over 40 multinational companies that provide services to the world from Chile, generating annual exports of U.S. $ 400 million and providing 10,000 jobs.

"Despite the global economic difficulties, Chile is investing in training its people and creating channels so that this training will provide access to better job opportunities. Moreover, this year we will double the number of grants to 2000 and this will include the participation of regions. The call for grants will be open from March", stated CORFO's executive vice-president.


Global services and human capital

To exploit the country's potential, and thereby enable the growth and consolidation of the Global Services Industry in Chile, it is necessary to enhance efforts to increase the amount of qualified human resources for the industry. It is particularly important to improve levels of English. This will allow Chile to consolidate its position over the next five years as an investment platform for a significant number of companies that export services to the United States and Europe. Around 50,000 new jobs will be created, particularly for technicians and engineers in IT. In this context, Chile's goal is to reach its Bicentennial with $ 1,000 million in exports of these services, a figure equivalent to that of the wine industry.

To achieve this goal, CORFO's work is focused on the area of Human Capital. This job fair was a final phase of the process that began with the first call for English scholarships. The project sought to quickly improve the level of English of 1000 technicians and professionals, enabling them to work in this emerging industry.

"Despite the complex global situation, we should not abandon the long-term perspective in the development of Chile. This industry has high potential and if we are swift and face the challenges, we will be able to grasp the opportunities it offers. This successful event is the result of the joint work of public and private actors in the global services cluster", explains Jean-Jacques Duhart, Subsecretary of Economy.

CORFO has provided over 1.3 billion pesos in order to finance intensive English courses (350 hours over four months). Internationally certified exams at the beginning and end of the courses served to measure learning progress and certify levels of English.

All those selected for this job fair achieved at least 600 points on the TOEIC exam, which is the minimum level required by these companies. This score means that a person is able to use their linguistic skills in different contexts, such as making a formal presentation, discussing topics of general interest, writing reports and writing job application letters.

"We are happy to participate in this event because we know that in this industry skills and training of human resources are important. We are developing a technology development centre by making use of national talent. The Government of Chile is strengthening its human capital and that is precisely what must be done to consolidate the industry and the country's development", states Sachin Sinha, CEO of U.S. company Orion.

During the first semester of this year, CORFO will develop a publicity and direct marketing campaign to advertise opportunities in the global services industry. The aim is to educate the community about a sector which is strategic for the future growth of the national economy. In particular, it aims to encourage young people leaving high school to study professional and technical degrees related to information technology (IT), and other subjects required by the global services industry.


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