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THE HEALTHTECH SKILLS GAP IS GROWING – COULD LATIN AMERICA HOLD THE KEY ?
Iffi Wahla , CEO and Co-founder of global hiring platform Edge , discusses how hiring a global virtual workforce can close the skills gap .
Ask any senior business leader what one of their main challenges is and they will undoubtedly mention finding the right expertise for their business . This issue is particularly acute in the tech industry with , according to the FT , 42 % of startups reporting an absence of the right talent to meet their needs . It ’ s a serious problem which pushes up costs , inhibits growth and damages business resilience . If you drill down further into the challenge you will find that certain subsectors of tech face an even greater skills shortage with the HealthTech industry leading the way . There are a few reasons for this –
HealthTechs often require individuals who have both a medical and technical background , HealthTech is getting more complex with breakthroughs in areas such as AI and genetics creating greater need for specialists , and these companies often require general skills in some of the most sought after fields – data science , UX and cybersecurity .
Solving the skills gap will require massive systemic change including huge upskilling programs and a reform of education to encourage more people into STEM subjects . This is obviously not going to happen any time soon , so the question for many HealthTechs is
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