Jalisco strengthens commercial ties with China

Jalisco

By Elenne Castro

In order to consolidate international ties between Jalisco and the People's Republic of China, Enrique Alfaro Ramírez, governor of the state and Zhu Qingqiao Ambassador of China in Mexico, held a working meeting.

 

During the meeting, the relevance of strengthening the trade relationship between Jalisco and China was addressed through the implementation of a direct China-Guadalajara cargo flight; attracting investment in infrastructure, manufacturing, and innovation sectors; as well as the extension of the maritime-air agreement with Chile to Jalisco through the Port of Manzanillo and the Guadalajara International Airport .

 

Regarding exports, it was agreed to work on accelerating the approval of sanitary protocols to be able to export lemon, avocado, mango and berries, in all their varieties, to our sister country.

 

For his part, the ambassador highlighted the relationship that has been maintained with the state of Jalisco. It was agreed to follow up on the issues discussed and establish a visit to the state as soon as possible to strengthen working ties.

 

This type of meeting strengthens Jalisco's ties of friendship and collaboration with the world, as well as the economic alliances to take advantage of free trade agreements, which result in more and better opportunities to position the state as a leading state in the country and internationally.

 

It is worth mentioning that this region is the only Mexican state to have a twinning agreement with Shanghai since 1998, which benefits the economic, educational, and innovation cooperation treaties.

 

 

Human capital, a pillar in the ICT industry; talent recruitment will increase

 

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry in Jalisco has had considerable growth, mainly in 2020, as technology companies benefited from the sectors' digital transformation.

According to the "IT Talent 2020" study carried out by the Instituto Jalisciense de Tecnología de la Información AC (IJALTI), 53% of the surveyed companies have plans to increase or maintain the hiring of talent in the coming months.

Luis Alberto García, general director of IJALTI, explained that this analysis is an X-ray of the sector's current situation. As an institution, they seek to promote and encourage the use, development, and use of ICTs and promote their growth at a national level.

"This study covers a general panorama of what was experienced in 2020, the industry is privileged, and we have great opportunities in it. Opportunities have manifested and developed for us that we never thought we would have," he said.

 

KEY INDUSTRY

Arelly Chávez, talent manager of IJALTI, assured that the global ICT landscape accounts for 65% of the world's GDP to be digitized by 2022, which will generate 6.8 trillion dollars in ICT spending between 2020 and 2023.

"This tells us about the importance of the sector in the industry. This is why we considered it necessary to carry out this research to improve our decision-making," he assured.

Thirty-eight companies of various sizes participated in this study, including AstraZeneca, Baxter, BMC, Svitla, UST Global, Intel, Oracle, Continental, among others. Also, it was reported that the origin of the companies installed in the region is: 50% Mexican, 31% American, and 19% are from other countries.

These participating companies have 19,566 employees who support the cross-servicing of companies interested in implementing ICTs in their processes.

Based on the study, last year, the types of services provided by IT companies were 84% in implementation, 82% in applications, and 74% in support.

In 2020, micro-companies prioritized applying and implementing technologies at 83%; small businesses focused mainly on application at 82%; while medium-sized brands targeted application, support, and implementation at 100%; large companies prioritized the application of solutions.

Among the served sectors that stand out are 55% technology, 50% financial services, 37% e-commerce, and 26% health services. 

"The sectors currently served by the industry could be modified. We project that by 2021 the service in the health sector will increase due to the health contingency," he said. 

The study showed that technical teams showed a significant variation concerning the sectors their companies serve, such as health services with 91%, government 91%, computer hardware 89%, entertainment 82%, and electronic commerce with 82 percent.

 

HIRING

Regarding hiring expectations, 34% of the participating companies generated fewer hires, 32% increased vacancies, 21% continued with the same number of job offers, and only 13% had to make layoffs.

"Currently, companies take great care of talent as it is valued as their main asset. This sector is one of the industries that offers the best benefits," he said.

To continue promoting talent and offering human capital with specific skills, the IJALTI study participants considered it necessary to obtain collaborators with the following competencies: 50% in problem-solving and decision-making, 32% in teamwork, and 18% who have innovative thinking. 

The positions most in demand today are: 

• Consultant
• Back and developer
• Full-stack developer
• Application support
• Front-end developer

"Employees become key pieces for the success of organizations. For the recruitment of talent, it is important to know the competencies that the industry requires so that they can be developed. Apart from these skills, employees are required to have soft skills, programming mastery, and English language skills," he said. 

Salary is undoubtedly one of the main attractions of the ICT industry, since according to the survey, the standard is a gross salary of 12,047 pesos, for those who are just entering the sector and do not dominate the English language, while those with three to six years of experience can reach a salary of 45,376 pesos per month with English proficiency.

"The salary offered is undoubtedly the highest of the national average, so it is necessary to create more talent with these skills to continue growing as an industry and to be able to face the challenges," he concluded. 

It is worth noting that this study is conducted for the sixth consecutive year and aims to provide an x-ray of all the people who collaborate, both in the ICT industry in Jalisco and companies that require expert personnel in specific and technical positions.