Argentine Software Industry Achieves Record Exports, but Employment Declines for the First Time in Six Years

The software industry in Argentina continues to grow significantly, and during the first quarter of 2026, it recorded exports of $744 million - a historical record for a quarter - with a total of $2.848 billion over the last 12 months. However, the first part of the year also revealed a striking fact: for the first time in the last six years, employment in the sector fell by 0.5% compared to the last quarter of 2025.

The data, which was shared with Ámbito, comes from the Software Industry Report prepared by the Permanent Observatory of the Software and IT Services Industry (OPSSI), under the Argentine Software Industry Chamber (CESSI). In this regard, the president of the entity, Pablo Fiuza, stated: "The software industry continues to demonstrate its adaptability. In a context where artificial intelligence is redefining processes and business models, the sector continues to generate foreign currency, maintain quality employment, and increase its international competitiveness. The challenges are no longer about inflation, but about accelerating innovation, expanding markets, and responding to an increasingly demanding market.**

Growth in Exports

The growth in exports is not new for the sector, which, driven by innovations in artificial intelligence, maintains an upward trend. In 2025, it had already recorded a year-on-year growth of 13.8% compared to 2024, in line with the advancement of Knowledge-Based Services, which reached 16.3%.

In an interview with Ámbito, Fiuza analyzed the reasons behind the sector's growth, in contrast to other activities in the Argentine economy: "The main differential of the software industry is that it competes based on talent, innovation, and the ability to generate high-value-added solutions for global markets. It is an industry whose competitiveness does not depend exclusively on the domestic market, but on the ability to export knowledge and develop technology for clients around the world.**

According to the head of CESSI, "Argentina has a mature technological ecosystem, companies with international experience, and highly qualified professionals," a characteristic that explains the growth of the sector's exports over the last decade. This ecosystem is also currently undergoing digital transformation and the adoption of artificial intelligence, which, he stated, "are driving a growing global demand for technological solutions" that positions software as "a sector with enormous potential to generate foreign currency, qualified employment, and economic development, even in contexts where other activities face greater difficulties.**

Regarding the composition of sales - beyond exports - in 2025 managed services (architecture, design, coding, consulting, testing, among others) led the ranking, accounting for 30.3% of total revenue. The podium is completed by the development of platforms and software services (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, fintech, etc.), which represented 28.8%, and staff augmentation (a flexible hiring model that allows companies to incorporate specialized external professionals), responsible for 13.7% of sales.

The sector expects that in 2026 these three categories will again lead revenue and also projects growth in sales of proprietary applications and infrastructure support services.

In terms of exports, the United States consolidated itself in 2025 as the main destination for Argentine software, accounting for 49.1% of sales abroad. It was followed by Spain (14.7%), Uruguay (10.7%), and Mexico (7.7%).

The United States, the top destination for Argentine software exports.
OPSSI

The First Employment Decline in 6 Years

Despite the strong performance in international markets, data collected by OPSSI showed a slight decline in formal employment in the sector, a figure that raises some warning signs when observing the sectoral evolution recorded over the last decade.

According to the report, the software industry currently employs 162,391 people. However, during the first quarter of 2026, employment fell by 0.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, marking the first drop in the last six years. The decline was even slightly higher than that recorded by formal private employment across urban agglomerates between January and March, which accumulated a drop of 0.3%, according to data from the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security.

The evolution of employment in software compared to other sectors of the Argentine economy.
OPSSI

This data is significant considering that the software industry had generated employment continuously since 2015. During that period, it created 65,398 net jobs, representing a growth of 67.3%, surpassing any other sector of the Argentine economy, except for trade.

In this regard, Fiuza elaborated: "We understand that the slight decrease in employment during the first quarter is due to a situational context and aligns with the general behavior of registered private employment. We do not interpret it as a change in trend."

Additionally, the head of CESSI analyzed that today "the sector is undergoing a profound transformation driven by artificial intelligence" and added: "This evolution is changing the most demanded profiles, accelerating specialization, and redefining certain functions. As a result, companies are increasingly prioritizing the incorporation of highly qualified talent, which creates a different dynamic in hiring, without altering the growth prospects of the industry."

"Nevertheless, we should not minimize this signal. The slowdown in employment reflects a context of greater caution in investment and hiring decisions. Therefore, it will be crucial to closely monitor the evolution in the coming quarters and continue promoting policies that favor competitiveness, talent development, and the growth of an industry with high potential to generate quality employment and exports," he concluded.

The figure becomes even more relevant when compared to the overall performance of private employment, which barely grew by 1.2% over the last decade. In this context, the software sector increased its share of registered private employment, rising from 1.5% in 2015 to 2.4% in 2025.

Regarding salaries, the OPSSI highlighted that the average gross salary in the sector amounts to $3,738,000, which is 110% above the average for the economy, according to the Remuneration Bulletin for Registered Workers prepared by the Observatory.

Compared to previous years, the income of workers in the sector also shows a positive evolution: the average salary was 13.4% higher than that recorded in December 2025 and has accumulated an increase of 37.2% in recent months. Thus, the software sector has once again positioned itself among the few sectors that managed to surpass the inflation rate for that period, which was 32.6%.

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