Digital Blackout: Brazil Needs 159 Thousand IT Professionals Per Year, But Only Trains 53 Thousand and Already Has a Deficit of Half a Million Programmers

Written by Valdemar Medeiros

Published on 18/09/2025 at 12:10

Foto: Apagão digital: Brasil precisa de 159 mil profissionais de TI por ano, mas forma só 53 mil e já acumula déficit de meio milhão de programadores

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Annual Deficit of 100 Thousand Programmers Leaves Thousands of Open Positions in Brazil. Companies Offer Salaries of Up to R$ 15 Thousand and Still Cannot Find Professionals.

In a country with over 7 million unemployed, it would be logical to imagine that companies easily find available labor. But in the technology sector, the opposite happens: jobs are abundant, projects are delayed, and salaries are rising in search of professionals who simply do not exist in sufficient numbers. The situation has been named among specialists: digital workforce blackout. According to Brasscom (Brazilian Association of Information Technology and Communication Companies), Brazil produces about 53 thousand IT professionals per year, but the demand reaches 159 thousand.

The result is an annual deficit of over 100 thousand specialists, which is expected to accumulate 530 thousand unfilled positions by 2025 if nothing changes.

How We Got to This Point in the Technology Sector

The root of the problem lies in the mismatch between education and the market. While universities and technical courses are still training professionals at a slow pace, digital transformation is advancing at an exponential speed.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

The Reality of Companies

Large groups such as Itaú, Magazine Luiza, Embraer, Ambev Tech, and XP report the same difficulty: a lack of qualified people to fill positions for developers, data analysts, software engineers, and cybersecurity specialists.

Magazine Luiza has already stated that it needs to hire thousands of programmers to sustain its digital expansion, but cannot find enough candidates.
Embraer is seeking software engineers for aerospace projects and states that the shortage is a bottleneck for innovation.
Startups report that 40% of projects are postponed or canceled due to lack of technical teams, according to ABStartups.

The scenario is even more dramatic for small and medium-sized enterprises, which cannot compete with giants that offer salaries of up to R$ 15 thousand, signing bonuses, and permanent remote work.

The Flight of Talents Abroad

Another aggravating factor is the silent export of brains. With the advancement of remote work, Brazilian programmers are being hired by foreign companies, earning in dollars or euros without needing to leave home.

This creates a perverse effect: while Brazil faces high unemployment in traditional sectors, it loses its few digital talents to the global market.

According to Globalization Partners, the international hiring of Brazilians by foreign companies has increased by over 150% since 2020, especially in IT areas.

Salaries Rising, Open Positions

The imbalance between supply and demand has caused salaries to skyrocket:

A mid-level developer earns an average of R$ 6,000.
A senior data scientist can earn over R$ 15 thousand.
Professionals in cybersecurity, now sought after worldwide, receive offers that exceed the pay of high-level executives.

Even so, positions remain open for months. Companies report selection processes with 20 candidates for each junior position, but none for senior positions.

Impact on Brazil’s Economic Future

The lack of IT professionals is not a problem restricted to the technology sector. Today, digitalization is the engine of the entire economy. Without programmers, the country risks delaying strategic projects in:

Artificial Intelligence, which promises to transform health, agriculture, and industry.
Industrial Automation, essential for increasing productivity.
Cybersecurity, a critical area given the rise in hacker attacks.
Internet of Things (IoT), connecting factories, cars, and smart cities.

A study by McKinsey estimates that Brazil could add US$ 115 billion to GDP by 2030 if it manages to reduce the deficit of digital professionals.

Attempts at a Solution

The private sector and government are trying to react:

Brasscom proposed a national training program, aimed at training 150 thousand professionals per year until 2025.
SESI/SENAI and SENAC have launched free technical courses in IT in various regions of the country.
Companies like Google, Ambev Tech, and XP have created their own programming academies, hiring young people even without prior experience.
Education startups like Alura, Rocketseat, and Trybe offer intensive bootcamps of 6 to 12 months, focusing on immediate employability.

Despite the initiatives, training is still slow compared to the growing demand.

Brazil in a Dilemma

If there is no coordinated action, the country risks remaining dependent on imported technology, instead of becoming a creator of innovation. This means losing global competitiveness and relying on foreign solutions even in strategic sectors, such as cybersecurity and financial systems.

As Silvia Valadares, director of Startups at Microsoft, summarizes, “the talent bottleneck is not just an economic problem, it is a sovereignty risk. Those who do not have professionals to create their own technology end up hostage to the technology of others.”

The IT workforce blackout can become one of the great silent crises of the Brazilian economy or a historic opportunity. If the country invests heavily in education, it could turn the deficit into a chance for social mobility, creating a new class of high-income professionals across all regions.

But if it remains behind, Brazil risks losing the digital revolution — and with it, billions in economic growth.

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Digital Blackout: Brazil Needs 159 Thousand IT Professionals Per Year, But Only Trains 53 Thousand and Already Has a Deficit of Half a Million Programmers

Annual Deficit of 100 Thousand Programmers Leaves Thousands of Open Positions in Brazil. Companies Offer Salaries of Up to R$ 15 Thousand and Still Cannot Find Professionals.

How We Got to This Point in the Technology Sector

The Reality of Companies

The Flight of Talents Abroad

Salaries Rising, Open Positions

Impact on Brazil’s Economic Future

Attempts at a Solution

Brazil in a Dilemma

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Digital Blackout: Brazil Needs 159 Thousand IT Professionals Per Year, But Only Trains 53 Thousand and Already Has a Deficit of Half a Million Programmers

Annual Deficit of 100 Thousand Programmers Leaves Thousands of Open Positions in Brazil. Companies Offer Salaries of Up to R$ 15 Thousand and Still Cannot Find Professionals.

How We Got to This Point in the Technology Sector

The Reality of Companies

The Flight of Talents Abroad

Salaries Rising, Open Positions

Impact on Brazil’s Economic Future

Attempts at a Solution

Brazil in a Dilemma

While in Brazil a 10-story building takes 2 years to complete, in China a company stacks pre-fabricated modules and raises the entire building in just 28 hours and 45 minutes.

BRICS is preparing a payment system inspired by the Brazilian PIX that will allow direct transactions between countries using national digital currencies without relying on the dollar or Western banks as intermediaries.

Ethiopia has banned gasoline and diesel cars, placed over a hundred silent electric buses on the streets of Addis Ababa, and now aims for half a million electric vehicles by 2030, all powered by Africa’s largest dam and a courage that few countries have shown.

On the coast of China, fishermen received an official reward after finding 10 foreign underwater devices capable of “stealing secrets” in just two years, showing that the silent war for the seabed has already reached the nets of those who rely on fishing.

A view from space, an image made by NASA shows the impressive Richat Structure, a geological formation located in the Sahara Desert, also known as the “Eye of the Sahara.”

In the South Atlantic, three isolated volcanic islands cause the wind to draw perfect spirals visible from space: a rare phenomenon called von Kármán vortex streets forms symmetrical patterns behind the peaks of the South Sandwich Islands and was recorded by the NOAA-20 satellite in 2025.

Solar-powered ice factory in the Amazon that eliminated a 5-hour trip to Manaus, prevents the loss of up to two-thirds of the fish, and now ensures income for more than 30 riverside families.

China has just successfully tested the world’s first ground effect maritime vehicle, a craft that flies up to 6 meters above the water at 200 km/h, uses quantum technology and 6G communication, and can rescue patients in the middle of the ocean.

The extratropical cyclone that formed in the ocean is already pushing a cold front with heavy rains over the South of Brazil, and meteorologists warn that Thursday will be the most dangerous day, with significant amounts of rain and cold advancing into Paraguay.

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The extratropical cyclone that formed in the ocean is already pushing a cold front with heavy rains over the South of Brazil, and meteorologists warn that Thursday will be the most dangerous day, with significant amounts of rain and cold advancing into Paraguay.

The war in the Middle East has already cost Brazil $882 million in exports that did not leave the country in a single month, with pork falling by 59% and soybeans declining by 25%, and now the agribusiness sector is rushing to find new buyers before the losses double.