In recent years,
in a context of industrial dynamism linked to the automotive sector, particularly,
American, European and Asian investors interested in establishing in Mexico not only
demand competitive cities that offer quality of life, education,
housing, infrastructure, connectivity, even, sustainability,
but also that provide specialized human resources that meet
the requirements of the global market.
In Mexico you can find specialized talent in development,
design and even, in much more specialized functions of the
industry at a very good price and a very good quality,”
said Joao Nunes, executive director in Michael Page,
brand that belongs to the Specialized Recruitment
Consulting Firm PageGroup.
“What we´ve seen in recent years is an investment in
industrial projects in the automotive sector much more
developed at a technologically level, where they see
Mexico, not only as a country of manufacture or as a
country where it is cheaper to produce, they see it
as an engineering country,” added Joao Nunes.
However, the executive director emphasized that
companies should promote technical training in
order to strengthen their teams to meet the challenges
of the coming years.
He revealed that the automotive companies that are
coming to Mexico are those that have done a good job
of market research, as they have achieved to identify
clearly what are the opportunities and the challenges
in the field of specialized human resources. “The vast
majority is already starting to hire and we at Page
Group today are supporting major projects in the
automotive industry in the search for talent.”
The executive director in Michael Page declared that
engineers currently in Mexico earn 20 percent more than
in other Latin American countries. “But why is it
interesting to come to Mexico if today it costs me 20
percent more an engineer here than in any other country?
The issue is that there is much more engineering offer
in Mexico, this 20 percent more than in Latin America
is still 30 or 40 percent less than in Europe and 10
or 15 percent less than in the United States. That
means that Mexico is still extremely competitive not
only for the price as such, but for the quality that
comes with the investment in the recruitment of this
resources type.”
In an interview, Rémy de Cazalet, senior general director
of PageGroup Mexico and Central America, noted that at his
office in Monterrey, Nuevo León, which opened three years
ago, they have registered a growth of one hundred percent,
which means that the number of foreign investors has increased,
especially because they have understood the importance of
the Mexico’s location and the opportunity that Mexican market
could offer them through their workers.
“The dynamism of foreign investors is such, that our office
in Monterrey today is the most profitable in Latin America.
Over the past two years in Saltillo, Coahuila, and Monterrey,
Nuevo León, a very important development is being seen, there
are a plenty of promoters of local industrial parks that are
increasingly specializing to be able to receive these foreign
investors,” commented Rémy de Cazalet.
In this context, the Senior Director of PageGroup Mexico
indicated that one of the key challenges for the industry is
that more mexican workers speak English. “I think that is an
area of opportunity that is being heavily worked on in recent
years. When a foreign investor arrives in Mexico, he needs
that its directors can go to the US or Europe to be trained,
and this requires to speak English”.
Professionals from the classrooms
Regarding the development of specialized human resources in the
classrooms, Manuel Molano, deputy director at the Mexican Institute
for Competitiveness (IMCO), indicated in an interview that it is
important to keep the universities connected to the cutting-edge
knowledge relevant for the aeronautical and automotive industries.
José Sergio Ledesma Martinez, president of the Federation of Colleges
and Professional Associations of the State of Querétaro (FECAPEQ)
stated that although today there are no schools for all industries,
they are working to create them, so that professionals covering
strategic areas such as food and beverage, automotive, appliance
and aerospace can be indentified.
He declared in an interview that through FECAPEQ schools related
to strategic sectors of the economy are focusing on continuously
updating, combined with the work of each school to let the industry
know about what are the areas of expertise that distinguish them
and how they reinforce them. “Almost all schools have a continuous
professional education standard that involves identifying and sharing
knowledge, experience with all colleagues. With universities we would
be looking at those bases precisely to establish the need to constantly
review the plans and programs of study.”
For Manuel Molano it is important to get rid of the stereotypical
idea that the mexican worker is useless. “You have to ask automotive
companies where their best talent is and probably much of their best
talent will be in Mexican plants. Labor productivity in these industries
I believe it has remained constant and in many cases has grown.”
From North to Bajío
Senior director of PageGroup Mexico and Central America said that
northern and central Mexico are prepared for the arrival of U.S.,
European and Asian investors, who come to establish their new
factories and industries. “If we go to the border we can found
industrial parks they are increasingly proposing facilities at
very competitive prices, with talent and synergies with the
companies. The advantage proposed by the north of the country
is that it can receive many investors, but also suggest the
expansion of land to those who are already present. What Mexico
offers are huge spaces where they are providing all kinds of
services around these industrial parks. At an educational level,
even not only new universities that will give talent but international
schools that will receive the children of foreign workers,” admitted
Rémy de Cazalet.
He also stated that from PageGroup they can see that a need for
talent is an area of opportunity in Mexico, where some regions
have specialized more than others in specific sectors, for example
automotive in the Bajío and Puebla; and manufacturing industry
in the north. “In the border parts of the country there are
advantages that a company can offer to its Mexican employees
by giving the opportunity to study or live in the U.S., that
attracts a lot of talent.”
He mentioned that the cost is one of the competitive factors
that have encouraged the installation of foreign companies in
northern Mexico. “Every time we have more customers in Page
Group who choose Mexican border for many factors, but I think
nowadays, we have the possibility of giving talent similar to
U.S. but more competitive at cost level. So, many North American
manufacturing companies are moving their production gradually
on this side of the border, things that 10 or 15 years ago did
not make for lack of knowledge or perhaps for lack of preparation
of Mexican talent, today it is no longer a pretext.”
The deputy director at the IMCO reported there are cases of success
in States such as Querétaro, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato and San Luis
Potosí who have understood the business of industrial parks, as
they have connected them to the cities and have developed a diversified
industry that has begun to demand qualified personnel.
“If a place makes sense is because the politics is good, because the
human capital that arrives there is good, because the legal system
works, because the city has good quality of life, and so on. In the
case of the States of the Bajío, Governments as Aguascalientes,
Querétaro and Guanajuato have their clear-darks on public security
issues, but in general they have done it quite well. Bajío States
were not in the picture to be that achieving, before the signing of
NAFTA they were Mexican, ultra-catholic, agrarian, traditionalist
societies, where it did not seem to be any comparative advantage to
be industrial and look what have happened. This proves that if you
improve institutions, development is possible,” concluded Manuel Molano.
