With the talent demands of industry at an all-time high, the skills gap that’s been created is now more pertinent than ever — especially in regions like Latin America.

Few companies are equipped to train people with highly technical skills at scale. Amazon Web Services Inc. is one company leaning into this challenge.

“We have a big cloud skills talent gap in the region,” Carolina Pina (pictured, right), head of enterprise enablement, Latin America, at Amazon Web Services Inc. “In fact, you know, 69% of companies have reported talent shortages and difficulty hiring. And this represents a 15-year high.”

Pina and Laura Alvarez Modernel (pictured, left), head of public sector programs, South of Latin America, at AWS, spoke with Lisa Martin, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during the Women in Tech: International Women’s Day event. They discussed AWS’ talent-oriented programs and partnerships in the region.

Leading by example

Solving the skills shortage isn’t enough. It has to be done in such a way that gives opportunities to society’s disadvantaged and overlooked sections — therefore, it must be equitable. A monolithic industry will be robbed of innovation in the long run, according to Pina.

“We always take into consideration women, minorities, underrepresented community, and not just for the current talent, but also to ensure that we are proactively implementing initiatives to develop a younger generation of talent,” Pina explained.

For its part, AWS has been very thorough in devising and executing programs, including re/Start, Academy and Educate. These programs are now being executed in the company’s Latin American market, and each caters to different kinds of people at different stages of the learning process.

“Re/Start is a program that’s already available in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Costa Rica,” Alvarez Modernel said.

The scarcity of female involvement in the Latin American STEM careers is due to a multitude of factors, from the institutional to the financial. However, a collective effort between companies like AWS and partner stakeholders could be key to remedying the problem, Modernel added.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Women in Tech: International Women’s Day event.

Photo: SiliconANGLE