How sourcing your engineers locally is harming your growth

In the fast-paced world of industrial engineering, success is not just about technical expertise; it's also about the people behind the projects. Nearshoring has emerged as a game-changer, allowing companies to extend their access to ressources behind their local perimeter.

Nearshoring allows industrial companies to access a rich talent pool in nearby or neighboring countries. This localization of talent facilitates seamless hiring and ramping up, as professionals can be located elsewhere and are not limited by commuting or the lack of young engineers graduating.

Switzerland

Switzerland is one of the most innovative country in the planet. It is also tough to commute through, roads being overcrowded and natural barriers like lakes and mountains are restraining potential talents to join companies in the search for new hires.

Currently, 176,000 people work in an engineering profession in Switzerland. We expect that due to geography, a company with a unique location can access only 18% of it, so approximately 31’000 potential talents. Needless to mention, that with an unemployment rate of 1% for Engineers, the market doesn’t bring any free capacitw for companies to grow inland.

Spain

Spain is one of the most dynamic european country for the qualified workforce at the moment. It’s decentralized system allows thousands of new engineers to graduate each year around the country. It is estimated, that Spain has approximately 750’000 engineers, from which 14% are currently unemployed.

Focusing only on rough numbers, we could counclude that the gross pool of engineers is approximately 20 times higher for Swiss companies that move towards remote working with Spain.

Emigration vs. Nearshoring

Traditionally, spanish Engineers have emigrated massively (up to 10%) to neighbourhing countries like France or Germany. Post pandemic, with the rise of remote work, it seems the trend has inverted, reducing the hurdles for the engineers who can remain in their home country, while foreign companies continuously have an influx of capacity.