STEM Workforce in Mexico

Mexico has a large population bonus of young working age residents and minors. The total population in Mexico has steadily increased over the years to 126 million habitants, and the average age is just under 30 years old. Almost 40% of the total population is between 15 and 40 years old. These indicators point to a sustainable availability of workforce over the coming years.

Prior to the 2020 pandemic, the total economic labor force reached over 55 million employed persons. This number represents about 60% of the total population, and has held relatively steady for many years.

Women represent about 34% of the employed population, a number that had been steadily rising prior to pandemic, although Mexico continues to be a country with more traditional gender roles and single‑income families. Employed men represent almost 85% of the economic labor force.

According to the National Occupation & Employment Survey, the majority of the economic labor force works in Services (40%), followed by Commerce (20%), Manufacturing (16%), Agriculture (13%), Construction(8%), Mining & Electricity (less than 1%).

Unemployment rates have settled just at 3% of the economic labor force, down from over 5% during peak pandemic.

Mexicans tend to respond to the world different, their leadership style is different, and the way they relate to the people is more personal.

One specific area in which Mexico excels in the global context is in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields. Mexico produces an impressive amount of STEM professionals, with about 25% of all Mexican university grads majoring in STEM fields.

As shown below, about 3 million professionals work in STEM fields in Mexico and an additional 250,000 students graduated from STEM fields in the 2020‑2021 academic year.

Some of the highest skills and proficiency ratings among Mexican professionals include Cloud Computing (91%), Web Development (86%) and Statistics (83%), according to Coursera.

Culturally, the education system in Mexico is quite different from other countries. There are public and private schools, and a larger percentage of middle‑class families send their children to private schools compared with other countries.

There are many top notch universities in Mexico ranked in the top of all of Latin America. Higher education tends to offer curriculums with a focus on mix of theory and professional practice. Many students are required to obtain these professional and social practices within companies or social agencies. Schedules permit many students to hold at least part‑time positions, and the importance of this experience is built into the curriculum. Many universities also partner with local businesses to provide real‑life problem‑solving projects, creating a strong link for employment opportunities. In fact, many students already have a job lined up before they graduate.

Mexican universities have great international agreements with universities all over the world and it is more and more common for Mexico’s middle class to study abroad.

Mexico is an exports‑oriented economy which excels in manufacturing, including automotive and electronics. Reliance on foreign direct investment has shaped the labor landscape to provide opportunities for companies matched with Mexico’s labor force. In addition to STEM fields, Mexico boasts large, young talent pools and has newly emerging career paths in industrial design, robotics and data science that meet the demand of a changing global marketplace.

Many Mexican professionals play vital roles in the success of the global organizations that they serve. The operations they service in Mexico are increasingly more strategic to the organization and their global footprint.

The United States, Canada and Mexico share a population of 500 million people, a GDP of nearly $30 trillion dollars, and each along are important global economies. One of every 17 U.S. jobs is supported by trade with Canada and Mexico. In fact, 40 cents of every dollar of Mexican export into the United States, whether good or services (think knowledge), benefits the United States. Mexican jobs directly create U.S. jobs, through upstream or downstream supply chains, software and technology, web services, etc. Jobs that stay in North America benefit the region.