For those who know about it, the city of Guadalajara is the cradle of tequila, mariachi music, and pozole. For Pentalog, this emerging IT outsourcing destination in Latin America, with its vibrant tech community, became the perfect place to set up a new development center to meet our American clients’ needs.
Only one hour behind the American east coast (including New York) and two hours ahead of San Francisco, Guadalajara is growing into an attractive business destination for US businesses investing in internal skilled workforce development in tech.
The economy of Mexico is the 15th largest in the world by GDP and the 11th largest by purchasing power parity, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Guadalajara is the capital of the state of Jalisco and the second most populated city in Mexico. The state hosts two airports, including the third busiest airport nationwide in Guadalajara. Complex railroad and highway systems link their residential suburbs to the city, making it accessible for the locals.
Mexico’s Silicon Valley is Open for Business
Boasting almost 5 million residents, Guadalajara has over the years attracted some of the largest software development and IT engineering firms seeking skilled workers. During Mexico’s trade embargo in the 1980s, IBM was the first company to break into the Guadalajara market after reaching an agreement with the Mexican government to sell its computers in Mexico. In exchange, IBM would open a plant there. Other multinationals followed IBM in subsequent years, including Intel and HP, in addition to Foxconn, which manufactures iPhones and the majority of Samsung gadgets.
These companies, along with dozens of key suppliers, do business in Guadalajara because of its qualified labor force at all levels, a commitment by state and local government to continually improve infrastructure, the presence of top-tier educational institutions, and a high quality of life supported one of the world’s most favorable climates.
Other advantages of outsourcing to Mexico:
- Proximity to the United States
- Same time zone
- Highly competitive rates
- Ease of travel (over 300 flights go from the US to Mexico every day)
- NAFTA membership
The Mexican market relies on well-versed front-end developers with extensive experience in the latest JavaScript frameworks (Vue.js, React.js, Angular) and flavors (ES6, TypeScript), as well as responsive web development (HTML5, CSS3, Bootstrap).
City of Innovation
In 2012, Guadalajara won a bid for the seat of Digital Creative City for supporting tech entrepreneurs and creating a foreign investment boom for IT development. This drew many technical experts from other Mexican cities, who came here in search of better work-life balance and better salaries.
Add the 114,000 engineering graduates from more than 120 universities and technical schools compared to the 120,000 in the United States and you’ll understand why Mexico is one of the world leaders in computer science graduates.
The American shortage of STEM talent favors Mexico given its close proximity. And, the Mexican government has approached this situation strategically: between 2005 and 2012, it managed to increase the percentage of all STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) college graduates from 15.5% to 21.3%.
Guadalajara houses 600 tech companies, 78,000 IT professionals (information technology services), 35 design centers and 4 research centers.
It’s Party Time!
Guadalajara hosts a variety of events every year, the most striking of which is its September mariachi music festival.
Here, people are attached to traditions and have strong religious backgrounds. They are also welcoming, relaxed, open towards foreigners, ready to help and very kind.
Compared to Mexico City, Guadalajara has lighter traffic on account of its smaller size, so people don’t lose so much time commuting. Even the local airport is located just 30 minutes away from the city center!
Fun fact: I’ve never seen any other country besides Romania and Mexico that use so much corn in their food! Here, there is tortilla, tostada, and nachos – all done out of cornflower. Mexicans even eat corn on a stick with mayonnaise and spices! You must try Guadalajara’s crispy lonches (a sandwich that uses the regional birote bread)!
Of course, there are also tacos, but they are widespread throughout Mexico. The same can be said for street food. Mexico’s street food culture is so widespread here that you can find a small food cart at any corner – whether you’re looking for tacos, quesadillas, fruits, or just snacks. People eat on the street a lot—and enjoy it—because it’s tasty, traditional and cheap.
While in Guadalajara, here’s what you can visit:
- La Minerva: One of the largest fountains in Guadalajara and a prominent city landmark.
- Los Arcos Vallarta: In the tradition of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the arches were originally designed as an extravagant entrance to the city, but the metropolis gradually expanded around them over the years.
- The Guadalajara Cathedral: The massive structure is visible wherever you are in the city. The architecture is amazing and the beautiful stained glass windows are spectacular when the sun is shining.
- Templo Expiatorio del Santísimo Sacramento: The neo-Gothic style church is one of the most beautiful of its kind in Mexico. Around it, there are street food carts where people come to eat and enjoy traditional dance during events and festivals.
Enjoy the Most Business-Friendly City in All of Latin America
For all the reasons above, our Latin American development center in Guadalajara thrives, making our clients in Silicon Valley and New York thrilled about their outsourcing options!
Our Pentalog team in Guadalajara can provide full stack IT services with a project kick-off of just 2 weeks. Learn more!
Read more about other Pentalog nearshore and offshore low-cost IT outsourcing locations: High-Tech Cities: Have You Ever Tried Coffee in Bucharest?