Guadalajara, Jalisco’s capital, has positioned itself as one of the most attractive cities for the IT sector not only in Mexico but in Latin America, and national and international companies have found in this city long-sought talent.
“There are five technology hubs in Mexico: Guadalajara, Mexico City, Tijuana, Mérida and Monterrey. “Guadalajara offers the most specialized engineering talent and it is a multicultural environment that understands the American market,” mentions Mr. Vladimir Mendoza, VP and Country Manager for SoftServe Mexico.
The IT sector in Jalisco has grown at a 15% annual rate for the last four to five years, and salaries have increased up to 25%, averaging MXP$60,000 per month, reveals Jalisco's Institute of Information Technology (IJALTI).
IJALTI was founded in 2002 with the purpose of driving Jalisco’s industry, mainly manufacturing at the time, towards the IT sector as well as encouraging intellectual property, closing the existing digital gap and developing talent which is key to the success of the IT sector.
Global firms such as SoftServe have found in Guadalajara, also known as the Mexican Silicon Valley, the specialized talent they need to respond to the requirements of their multinational clients.
“One of the main reasons why SoftServe came to Mexico is talent. For forty years, Mexico has been a driving force to shift from manufacturing to IT. Mexico is a business niche that can definitely align with the business models of clients in the United States and Latin America. Although we started in Guadalajara because of talent availability, we are now hiring nationwide, we have no restrictions or borders within Mexico,” says Mr. Vladimir Mendoza.
The VP of SoftServe mentions that Mexico has approximately 900,000 engineers working in IT. “We also have 130,000 engineering graduates every year that could potentially join the IT industry, which is higher than in the US, with 80,000 engineering graduates a year. This makes Mexico a very attractive country for SoftServe because we can recruit talent to bridge the existing gap in the US.”
One of the current challenges in the US is the high turnover and the lack of talent for the projects as it is currently facing a significant shortfall in IT Engineers, says Mr. Mendoza.
He also says that the total cost of ownership of a specialized engineer is 40% lower in Mexico than it is in the US. “The total cost of ownership includes salaries, bonuses and overhead costs, and the cost in Mexico is still 30% to 40% lower than in the US. The United States is facing a very high turnover, which significantly increases operation costs.”
“Guadalajara offers the most specialized engineering talent and it is a multicultural environment that understands the American market.”
Vladimir Mendoza, VP and Country Manager for SoftServe Mexico.
IT Mexican talent
SoftServe Mexico plans to open up 3,000 jobs in the next couple of years. The Ukrainian company is seeking talent in every area, but particularly IT engineers who are passionate about learning, serving clients and having a positive impact in society.
“Mexico is ready and is now at a crossroad to capitalize the existing opportunities. Mexico must lead the way in terms of talent creation for manufacturing, digital and IT projects. There is a lot of talent in Mexico, the country is competitive globally. Mexican talent offer is comparable or even better than that of the US, Europe or Asia,” highlights the VP for SoftServe Mexico.
SoftServe connects its clients with the best available talent in the region and backs up operations in the areas where it works. This company has 13,000 employees globally who work in 43 software development centers across many countries.
SoftServe started operations in Mexico in 2021 and started hiring in March 2022. It now has 150 employees in Mexico and the plan is to create between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs in the next two to three years. “If you are a multinational company in search of IT talent, it does not matter where you get it from, Mexico, Europe or Asia, people have the same opportunities to thrive in the job,” states Mr. Mendoza.
SoftServe is currently working on exchange and trainee programs with universities to develop talent. “It is crucial for us to use this kind of model. We get fresh talent from universities and hire them to work for our clients globally,” highlights the VP of SoftServe.
SoftServe works together with the Mexican Chamber of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technologies (CANIETI) and different technology clusters such as the West IT Cluster and IJALTI, to develop alliances with universities. The objective of this joint work is to get involved in discussions about academic plans and give opportunities to students to compete for these posts.
Mexico, Colombia and Chile have more than 500,000 IT professionals and every year 350,000 students graduate from IT related degrees. Mexico is an attractive destination for IT global players considering its proximity to the United States, indicates SoftServe, a cutting-edge technology company founded three decades ago.
According to a recent report by Deel Inc., a global payroll organization, the hiring rate for software engineers in Latin America grew 286% during the second half of 2021, more than any other region in the world. Most of the new hires are in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, but competitive salaries are also creating interest in other countries like Colombia, Perú and Dominican Republic.
Professional development in IT
SoftServe’s goal is to bring their best practices and benefits to employees in Mexico and therefore the company offers their talent highly competitive learning opportunities through SoftServe University, including professional certifications and international posting.
“SoftServe University is a differentiator for our company. It was created to breed talent, content, certifications, mentorship and coaching to train the professionals that are going to be working with our clients. SoftServe University not only generates new talent, it also helps grant professional status to existing talent,” explains Mr. Mendoza.
SoftServe University helps professionals who enter the IT industry. It maps out their strengths and opportunities and creates career plans based on the experience to be acquired and how that will allow them to move forward and broaden their horizons.
People Excellence is a professional development platform created by SoftServe to accelerate professional development by tracking achievements. It also offers guidance for professional growth within the company.
Most of the talent sought by SoftServe is bilingual and with some sort of technical specialization. This is essential in a fast-paced world where education must provide tools to adapt to industry needs.
“SoftServe University offers technological programs that are bilingual and include communication and leadership skills. One of the goals is to guarantee that the talent that joins the programs is ready to face the global challenges. Our clients want to make sure our consultants have the knowledge and the experience required. We have a certified group dedicated to evaluate consultants based on the requirements of the clients. If our clients request a person with a certain level of experience, we already have the group to interview,” concludes Mr. Vladirmir Mendoza.
SoftServe focuses on global megatrends to fulfill clients, mainly user experience, internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, cloud in a box, augmented reality, blockchain, robotics and automation.
