While Brazil is substantially smaller than offshore competitors India and China, its working age population is projected to continue increasing to about 2020, longer than China¦s. This also means that the number of graduates entering the workforce will continue increasing as the number of new graduates decreases in China. However India¦s working-age share of population is projected to increase longer than either¦s, and decline more slowly as the Indian population continues to expand.

However Brazil bests India in at least one important workforce statistic: employee turnover. Turnover can run 30-40% annually at IT firms in India, according to a recent report by the Economist ("Watch out India," The Economist, May 4, 2006) Employee turnover in Brazilian firms varies of course but is much closer to the 5-10% figures that are common in US firms.

Brazil¦s ethnic Japanese population represents another demographic advantage. SÒo Paulo boasts the largest Japanese community of any city outside Japan, and the city¦s correspondingly high number of Japanese speakers make it an ideal location for IT and business process outsourcing work for the Japanese market.