Global Hiring Trends: What’s Really Happening in India, Africa, and Latin America

How Global Talent Markets Are Really Evolving

Over the past decade, global hiring playbooks have shifted from “offshoring” to “distributed-by-design.” Companies now seek scalable, cost-effective, and specialized talent far beyond Silicon Valley, and three regions consistently enter the conversation: India, Africa, and Latin America.

But recent data complicates the narrative. While developer populations are growing in particular, workforce participation, AI job demand, and remote work are actually declining in key countries. The future of global tech talent isn’t just about scale; it's also about long-term planning,  resilience, specialization, and knowing where momentum is genuine.

Here’s what the latest research, including Aura Intelligence’s Benchmarking Report, actually tells us.

Looking to expand globally, rethink your workforce strategy, or analyze potential investments? Get a custom demo of Aura’s global hiring intelligence platform.

India: Still a Tech Titan, Now in Transition

India continues to lead globally in the supply of tech labor. The country now boasts 15.4 million developers on GitHub and remains second only to the U.S. in global AI job postings, capturing a 15.1% share of the global market in 2024.

But growth seems to be softening. Aura’s benchmarking data shows:

• AI job postings in India fell 18.1% year-over-year

• India’s Technology workforce share declined 1.8%, though it still holds a dominant 21.1% globally

• Remote job postings in Finance & Investment dropped 26%, reflecting a global pullback from remote flexibility

That said, India is not standing still. The country saw 2.9% workforce growth in Professional Services, the highest among major economies. This suggests a shift from pure technical staffing toward consultative and enterprise services roles, especially in Global Capability Centers (GCCs) operated by firms such as Meta, Microsoft, and McKinsey.

India’s hiring market is cooling in some areas, but it’s consolidating strength in higher-margin, platform-adjacent and professional services roles. This makes it a critical talent hub, not just for volume and value in technical projects, but for a broader range of corporate functions.

Africa: A Promising Market Still Early in the Curve

Africa’s developer population has grown significantly in recent years, particularly in major hubs such as Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa. Combined, these countries now have over 3.7 million developers, up from just 716,000 in 2021, according to reports from GitHub and Google.

However, while developer interest is strong, macro hiring signals are harder to track. Aura’s benchmarking data does not yet break out country-level stats for Africa, reflecting the region’s lower digital visibility in job postings and professional profiles.

What we can observe:

• Nigeria’s GitHub developer base exceeded 1.1 million in 2024, with ~38% working for international companies

• Kenya saw a 33% jump in developer participation year-over-year, the fastest growth in the region

• Nigeria now accounts for 4% of new blockchain developers globally—punching far above its weight in emerging tech

At the same time, salary benchmarks remain low: most African developers earn under $20,000/year, and many earn less than $5,000. Infrastructure, broadband access, and formal employment pathways still vary widely between countries.

So is Africa “booming”? Not yet in structural terms. It’s expanding from a small base, with strong indicators in developer growth and early-stage innovation. However, challenges in formal hiring, skills visibility, and enterprise-scale engagement mean that this is a region full of potential, which has yet to be realized in quantifiable workforce statistics.

Latin America: A Study in Contrasts

Latin America is often treated as a monolith, but Aura’s data makes clear that different countries are moving at very different speeds.

In Brazil, 2024 saw real retrenchment:

• Tech workforce share dropped 3%

• Tech job postings declined 28.7%, the sharpest fall among top geographies

• AI and Finance hiring slowed, reflecting broader macro softness

Mexico, meanwhile, shows a different trajectory:

• It accounted for 6.3% of global Finance & Investment job postings

• AI job postings in that sector rose 53.7%, one of the few growth markets globally

This divergence highlights a broader truth: Latin America’s strength may lie in nearshore flexibility, but its long-term performance ultimately depends on country-level investment and sector depth.

Developer adoption continues to grow:

• The region now counts 377,000+ GitHub developers, up 35% year-over-year

• Uruguay and Costa Rica lead in tech talent per capita

• Fintech, cloud, and data science remain top hiring sectors across markets like Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina

But like Africa, salaries remain far below U.S. or European benchmarks. A typical full-stack developer in Mexico earns approximately $35,000/year,  roughly one-fourth of the equivalent in Silicon Valley.

Key Takeaways on Global Tech Hiring Trends

Here’s a clear look at the real trends shaping global hiring right now:

• India is still dominant in volume, but hiring is flattening, especially in AI and remote roles. It’s gaining strength in consulting-oriented and platform integration roles.

• Africa is experiencing strong growth in developer participation, particularly among junior developers and in blockchain/fintech, but formal hiring and salary growth remain in the early stages. There’s enormous potential, but it remains largely under the radar.

• Latin America is diverging—Brazil is contracting, while Mexico is gaining ground, especially in AI-related and Finance jobs. Nearshore models continue to drive demand in the U.S.

This is the value of benchmarking: seeing beyond buzzwords, and understanding where real opportunities (and headwinds) lie.

For companies hiring globally, or advisors navigating cross-border workforce strategies, the choice is often more about strategic trajectory than cost. That’s what Aura’s real-time talent intelligence brings to the table.

Plan smarter global expansion. Aura delivers real-time workforce analytics to inform your hiring, market entry, and investment decisions. Get a demo of Aura’s global talent intelligence platform.