Need digital talent? Look 20 minutes south of San Diego.
When your San Diego business needs to expand during one of the toughest battles for digital talent, where do you look?
Consider Tijuana, Mexico. Our binational region, which includes San Diego County, Imperial County, and the Mexican State of Baja California, is home to more than 7.1 million people – and specializes in high-value goods and services.
San Diego and Tijuana jointly host some of the world’s strongest innovation clusters, including the world’s largest medical device cluster (Trade and Competitiveness in North America, 2018), due in part to significant foreign direct investment from global firms that often co-locate on both sides of the border. Firms like Thermo Fisher Scientific are already leveraging all our binational region has to offer, including specialized production processes and highly-skilled workers.
Who should consider leveraging cross-border talent?
Companies that are:
- Considering outsourcing talent outside of San Diego
- Currently outsourcing talent but looking to build a geographically closer team
- Cost-conscious but looking to expand
- Small to mid-sized and struggling to compete in the battle for talent.
can all benefit from leveraging talent in both San Diego and Tijuana.
Why consider cross-border talent?
Tijuana’s proximity to San Diego makes it a strong strategic choice for talent and business partnership, especially for remote and hybrid teams.
First, compared to working with talent around the world, there can be fewer limitations when your company leverages talent in Tijuana – whether visa-related or otherwise. For regional innovation companies like those in the life sciences cluster, too, the ability to transport samples between San Diego and Tijuana teams is much simpler and quicker than other international options.
And when it comes to culture and oversight, Tijuana is just 20 minutes south of San Diego, allowing management to provide more direct support via easy day trips to Tijuana teams and offices. Because Tijuana is in the same time zone as San Diego, teams can enjoy easier collaboration and culture-building every day – whether or not companies remain remote or consider returning to on-site work.
Who can help me?
If leveraging Tijuana talent can help your company but you’re not sure where to begin, there are a number of programs and partners that may be able to support or help fund your cross-border talent search.
- If your company is based in San Diego and looking for general or tech talent, contact World Trade Center San Diego to get started.
- If your company is based in Tijuana and looking for tech talent, contact ITJuana to get started.
- If your company is based in Tijuana and looking for general or tech talent, contact Tijuana EDC to get started.
Additional resources:
Interested in growing your business internationally?
World Trade Center San Diego, home of the Export Specialty Small Business Development Center (SBDC), works directly with companies – free of charge – to help them expand internationally and grow in San Diego. Whether your small company is interested in learning about exporting and international growth, or your small or medium-sized company is ready to export and grow internationally, World Trade Center San Diego is here to help.
Ready to export? Apply to MetroConnect VI by November 15.
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