“While the pressures of the Great Resignation and attendant labor shortage have wide implications for businesses in just about every industry, it’s even worse for companies looking to hire highly skilled tech workers. Prior to the pandemic, it was tough to fill specialized technology roles. Now, he says, it’s “next to impossible.” (Kelly, 2022, Forbes)
Software developers are in more demand than ever in the US. Luckily, not so far away there is a latent solution and a tech hub full of potential within.
Every year, there are more than 160,000 graduates in computer science in Mexico. Comparing Mexico to nations with considerably larger economies, such as the United States, which has just 65,000 graduates, it is evident that Mexico is outperforming its peers. The talent market is getting more competitive, but Mexico remains a strong player in the global digital talent ecosystem because of the sheer number of graduates and the expansion of informal education institutions like coding academies. According to Steve Mezak, chief software services deal-maker at Next Coast Brokerage in Silicon Valley, “there is a continuous designer and developer scarcity that is prompting American service organizations to explore outside of North America.”
Nowadays, at hand with the Great Resignation, one million positions in the technology sector go vacant every year, according to a 2019 Wall Street Journal analysis. To address the talent gap, governments and the education sector are acting rapidly. When compared to other Latin American nations, Mexico has been at the forefront of developing a new generation of STEM graduates since 2006. Mexico may be the answer for American businesses wanting to outsource their software development.
In terms of the salary of their software teams, there is no denying that labor costs are appealing for businesses trying to expand without paying the higher wages required to hire workers with the same abilities in the United States.
Latin America and Mexico are growing rapidly for potential U.S. employers, so establishing a team or office there should be as much about strategy as it is about the obvious cost reductions and annual salaries significantly lower than US ones. And, aside from salary costs, working with Mexican teams on projects is substantially less expensive than dealing with outsourcing partners in other regions of the world. Near real-time cooperation lessens the possibility of misunderstandings, work that wasn’t necessarily being done, or errors that can happen when requests for modifications aren’t fulfilled on time and as required.
Consider San Diego and Tijuana as an example; the two cities are just a 30-minute drive away by car. If organization A has an IT team and a center of excellence in Tijuana, they may visit their team there for a single day without incurring additional expenses like lodging and travel costs. Flying to Mexico from the US could mean a huge deal for some, a 30-minute drive from the border could be a viable solution.
Other benefits are the strong employee retention rates and prompt communication thanks to the cultural compatibility — a professional, diligent approach, and a dedication to outcomes between 2 similar cultures. In regions such as India or Eastern Europe, regardless of the great working teams, the understanding could vary because of the cultural scope, this will not happen with Mexican teams because not only of the proximity between countries but also because of the extent of the software engineering teams that speak fluent English. This common understanding can facilitate connections across Zoom and Slack in a professional setting and hasten the development of trust. Additionally, since most of Mexico is on central time, there are additional possibilities to interact due to the natural working day overlap.
In conclusion, IT firms of all sizes compete to scale their product design and engineering skills. The demand for digital products is outpacing the growth of the IT skill pool in the highly competitive U.S. labor market. Companies that look globally when expanding their teams can lower risk and scale more quickly than those that just invest in domestic education.
ITJ firmly holds the mission to offer mentorship and career development to a new generation of software engineers. To know more about it, visit ITJuana is committed to investing in developing digital talent in Tijuana.
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ITJ is a trusted partner in building the finest software engineering teams in the Americas. For more information, visit www.itj.com.
