A new digital tool aims to showcase the potential of Guatemala’s workforce and facilitate decision-making for business owners and investors interested in establishing operations in the country.

It is an interactive dashboard, which will be officially launched this Wednesday, May 13^th, and was developed by the human capital working group of the Guatemala Moving Forward initiative. The platform compiles information on job skills, wages, regional capabilities, and the socioeconomic characteristics of the population.

According to Juan Andrés Tejada, a developer at Urbop, the tool aims to address one of the main obstacles identified by companies interested in investing in the country: the lack of updated information on job skills, wages, and regional capabilities. “The most important thing is that this tool shows them that there are opportunities, there is talent, and there are ways to harness that talent,” Tejada said.

According to Wendy Mena, Strategy Manager and Investment Advisor at Invest Guatemala, one of the main challenges identified for the establishment of new businesses in the country’s interior is the lack of information regarding the availability of human talent and the skills that people possess. “The tool is designed to help companies considering opening a store, a factory, or setting up operations in another part of the country to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of the population in that region,” she explained.

“One of the challenges we’ve identified regarding the establishment of new businesses in the interior of the country is that there is very little information available about the availability of skilled workers and the skills sets of the local population—factors that would encourage a factory to set up operations there,” he added.

The data was collected through a survey conducted in 190 municipalities across the country among a representative sample of approximately 4,500 people, with a 95% confidence level. The results were statistically extrapolated to estimate trends at the national level. It includes:

• Municipal map
• Demographic profile
• Skills by sector
• Level of preparation
• Housing conditions
• Investment roadmap

According to the developers, the study is based on the GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) methodology, a rigorous standard in development studies that ensures every figure is grounded in the social, housing, and economic realities of Guatemalan families, based on five fundamental pillars.

New investment opportunities

The tool makes it possible to identify existing labor skills in different regions of the country and see what types of skills are most prevalent in specific Municipiums. Mena explained that one of the main findings is that labor skills are not concentrated solely in the metropolitan area, but rather that there are developed skills in various departments and mid-sized cities.

“We are seeing many opportunities for business growth in the interior of the country. Each region has a distinct focus, aligned with its economic activity and the types of industries or sectors that are growing,” he said.

He added that any new investment must be accompanied by information on the available workforce in the region where a business intends to set up operations. “The tool should help us better guide companies that are considering setting up a manufacturing or assembly operation for a specific product, so they can identify where the relevant skills for that industry are located,” he said.

The dashboard breaks down skills into various strategic categories, including sales, logistics, manufacturing, construction, mechanics, maintenance, communications, customer service, and English.

According to Mena, this information will help answer one of the most frequently asked questions from domestic and foreign investors: whether there is sufficient human talent in a given region to sustain an operation. “It helps us determine whether or not there is talent available in the region where a company might locate,” he said.

Regarding the main findings, he noted that the dashboard makes it possible to identify municipalities and departments with populations that already possess certain skills—such as English proficiency—which could facilitate the expansion of industries like call centers.
“Today, the possibility of opening a new call center is no longer limited to the capital, where we can find available workers. There are various departments and municipalities that already have a critical mass of people with English skills,” he noted.

He added that the same phenomenon is occurring in sectors related to manufacturing, assembly, textiles, auto parts, and packaging. “There is a workforce with developed skills in various mid-sized cities, and we can supplement those skills with courses from Intecap or other technical schools to make people easily eligible for formal employment,” he explained.

Information to Review

The dashboard will feature five sections displaying demographic information related to the economically active population, including age, gender, ethnicity, and geographic distribution. It will also include filters to analyze data by department, region, and municipality.

One of the system’s core features is the analysis of job skills. The tool identifies 45 skills grouped into areas such as manufacturing, logistics, maintenance, communication, management, customer service, and English. Users will be able to see where certain skills are concentrated and the level of proficiency individuals have in each skill. In addition, the system allows users to filter information by age, gender, education level, and employment status.

Ignacio Basterrechea, managing partner of Urbop, the company responsible for developing the platform, explained that the approach does not focus solely on professions or occupations, but rather on specific skills that can be adapted to different jobs. “In Guatemala, there is a lot of talk about the national average, but this overlooks regional and municipal nuances. This tool allows us to identify where the gaps lie on the supply side,” said Basterrechea.

As he explained, the system matches the skills identified in the surveys with international occupational codes to estimate what kinds of jobs people could perform and how much additional training they would need. “The interesting thing is that when new industries emerge, there aren’t necessarily people who have already worked in exactly that field, but they do possess skills that can be adapted to fill those positions,” he explained.

The platform also integrates salary and technical training data from the Ministry of Labor (Mintrab) and Intecap. This will allow users to view salary ranges, labor costs, and the availability of technical training by region. “Investors ask three questions: how many people are available, at what cost, and what is the cost of training,” said Basterrechea.

In addition, the dashboard includes information on mobility, access to transportation, and the socioeconomic status of households—factors that could influence decisions regarding the location of plants or operational centers.

Next Steps

According to Mena, one of the next steps will be to expand the tool’s reach and strengthen coordination with public institutions, universities, and technical training centers.

He explained that discussions are already underway with Intecap, Mintrab, and universities to identify which technical degree programs and training courses could be strengthened in different regions of the country. “When we think about attracting new investments that aren’t concentrated in the metropolitan area, human capital becomes the most important factor, because that’s what companies look for when setting up operations,” he said.

He also noted that the tool could serve as a resource for designing regional economic development strategies and promoting productive decentralization of processes. “We need to view this as a national strategy that guides us in developing production clusters in different regions and takes into account people’s skills and aptitudes,” he added