Aside from corporate solutions, governments also can do a lot to address this issue. By promoting policies that help make careers in technology more attractive to students and encouraging technical education, governments can lay the groundwork for a future technologically sophisticated workforce.

Still, experts warn that even with government support, companies will have a lot to do, according to a post by Werner Penk, president of the global technology market practice at consultancy Korn Ferry: “The onus falls on companies to train workers, [but] also to encourage governments to rethink education programs to generate the talent pipelines the industry will require.”

n the end, both approaches will be necessary, especially because businesses cannot afford to wait for public solutions to enlarge the talent pool. Freitas describes what's needed as trying to fix a car while it's in motion. And these days everyone is a mechanic, because businesses of all kinds, in every industry are dependent on it to function.

“The beauty and the curse of IT is that it’s everywhere,” Freitas says. “No one can run away from technology anymore if they want to survive.”