Brazil's boom needs talent

Multinationals beef up training; English-speaking managers are in demand.

Multinational companies are taking extra measures to secure qualified employees in Brazil's booming economy. To cope with a talent shortage, many are beefing up internship programs, spending more on training and salaries and relocating workers from flat or declining markets.

Particularly in demand: English-speaking managers and engineers, as well as those with experience in business development.

Brazil's economy has soared in recent years as its oil, gas and ethanol sectors thrived. In 2010, U.S. foreign direct investment in Brazil totaled $6.2bn, up from $2.4bn in 2003, according to the Banco Central do Brasil. From January through April this year, U.S. investment reached $3.1bn.

Similar to the situation in other emerging markets, such as China, foreign companies looking to expand in Brazil are competing with flourishing local firms for new hires. Also, local colleges and universities in Brazil were caught off guard by the economic boom. For-profit schools are attempting to fill the gap, but for now many multinational companies say they are having to educate their own employees.

Audio-equipment maker Harman International Industries Inc. trains its Brazilian engineers at company research centers in California and Indiana for three to six months at a time, according to Chief Executive Dinesh Paliwal.

Brazilians trained by multinational corporations are widely sought after, Mr. Paliwal says: "You train them for six or nine months your way and then all of a sudden, their market value doubles."

Poaching is an issue. "The market is trying to steal my people," says Luis Maurette, president of Liberty Seguros Brazil, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.'s Brazilian company.

In the past eight months, Mr. Maurette says competitors, both foreign companies and Brazilian firms, have tried to recruit 70 of his 1,500 employees, including underwriters, field sales managers and affinity specialists. Twenty actually made the move, he says.

In November, a key manager in Liberty's affinity business approached Mr. Maurette, saying a competitor had offered her a better-paying job. Mr. Maurette gave her a promotion and a raise. She stayed.

Companies also say they are having to rely more heavily on interns to feed the pipeline.

Siemens AG has 10,000 employees in Brazil and expects to add around 800 in 2011, says Marcos Cunha, Siemens's Director of Human Resources in Brazil. To fill the spots, the company plans to hire about 90% of its interns, he says. Many of them will fill engineering and finance positions.

Mr. Cunha says it is increasingly difficult to find people with five to 10 years of experience, so the company prefers to develop talent from universities instead. For more technical jobs, Siemens is relocating employees from flat or declining markets like Spain, Portugal and the U.S, he says.

Otis Elevator Co. is adding over 100 new employees in Brazil, targeting mechanics before they finish school. Otis partners up with technical schools across Brazil and recruits upcoming graduates as interns for a six month program. It hires around 60% of the interns who complete the program.

Hiring also came into play when choosing the location of a new 200,000 square foot factory that will open in 2012. Rather than a location where costs would be lower, the company decided to build the plant just a few miles from its existing facility in São Bernardo so that it could keep its existing workers rather than hire new, says Randy Wilcox, President of Otis's North and South American Operations. "We knew it would be a challenge to get new employees," he says.

(Published by WSJ - June 27, 2011)