Meet Mexico’s Best Employers 2022: ‘We Believe In The Talent In Mexico’

Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), the Quebec-based hobby vehicle company, is propped up by an 89% full-time hourly workforce in their Mexico-based operations. They are mainly trained front-line technicians and plant employees. Clearly, the $5.5 billion maker of ATVs, snowmobiles and watercraft is intent on keeping them—and keeping them happy.

“My team and I pay careful attention to happiness measures of our hourly employees improving at the same rate as our salaried professionals,” says BRP’s vice president of Human Resources in Mexico, Annie Paquet, of her 14,000-strong workforce. “We ask if they’re happy with their compensation, if they feel a sense of equality, and if they believe there are pathways to growth. The socioeconomic divide in Mexico is significant, and we really care about making lives better for all our employees.”

One of the world’s largest economies, Mexico’s manufacturing sector contributes to more than 18% of the nation’s GDP, according to 2022 figures from Banco de México and is responsible for 89% of the nation’s total exports.

But manufacturing isn’t the only game en la ciudad. As the inaugural list of Mexico’s Best Employers reveals, the highest-rated companies in the nation are also concentrated in tourism and tech, education and food and beverages. Forbes partnered with market research company Statista to compile the ranking by anonymously surveying approximately 10,000 employees at businesses employing at least 250 people in Spanish (with an English option) to determine which ones excel in working conditions, salary, talent development, gender equality, social responsibility and more.

Survey participants were also asked to rate their willingness to recommend their employers to friends and family. Additionally, they were asked to evaluate other employers in their respective industries that stood out either positively or negatively. This year’s list comprises the 375 companies that received the highest scores. (See full methodology, below.)

See Our Full List of Mexico’s Best Employers 2022

“We Believe In The Talent In Mexico”

What Paquet calls “the care mindset” helped BRP land at No. 5 in our inaugural Mexican workplace index. Turnover is often high for wage workers, but BRP has remained a competitive employer in Mexico since first creating a hub there 17 years ago.

Paquet says employees are motivated by the company’s innovative work (BRP invested$65 million in the first electric car battery factory in Mexico, which broke ground in early October 2022), but are keen to stay for the extensive benefits for employees and their families.

The company pays 100% for any employee to finish primary or high school and a bachelor’s degree for some. BRP workers’ children can also take free classes, with English being the most popular.

Additionally, BRP’s Mexico arm launched the company’s first Family Centers, which are now ubiquitous across the multinational’s global locations. They provide free access to doctors, lawyers, dentists and mental health professionals to employees and their families.

“We understand that where someone chooses to work affects the entire family,” says Paquet. “We believe in the talent in Mexico and want to do everything we can to support it.”

Beyond Manufacturing

While Mexican-origin companies such as detergent manufacturer Fábrica de Jabón La Corona (No. 2) and sustainable tourism outfit Grupo Xcaret (No. 12) make up 49% of the companies that made it into the ranking, U.S.-based companies made up the majority of our top ten and 27% of the total ranking.

This is not a surprise for several reasons, according to Eric Verhoogen, an economist and professor at Columbia University’s Department of Economics and School of International and Public Affairs. Mexico is the 15th largest exporter in the world, and “roughly 80% of exports go to the U.S,” says Verhoogen.

“That said, while manufacturing and exporting are a big part of the Mexican economy, they may not be as big as some may imagine. In reality, just 15% to 20% of employment is in these sectors.”

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google
GOOG
(No. 3) is one such company that challenges this common perception.

“The commercial and sales support of our advertising business and our cloud solutions is where most of the Google teams currently gravitate in Mexico,” says Ricardo Zamora, the PR leader for Google Mexico.

In July, Google Cloud announced plans for its first cloud region in Mexico, its third in Latin America after Santiago, Chile, and São Paulo, Brazil. The tech behemoth currently employs 600 people in Mexico.

Zamora points to Google’s company culture as the primary reason for its high rank. “In the beginning, Google was known for being one of the first companies bringing the working experience of Silicon Valley to the country. . . . programs that encourage to keep learning and developing both personally and professionally [and] perks such as spaces to exercise or meditate or the free food.”

Verhoogen also nods to upper-income countries’ often robust corporate benefits as a reason for their pervasiveness and high rankings on our list. French personal care company L’Oréal, for instance, takes our No. 1 spot. The company has been present in Mexico, which the World Bank identifies as an “upper middle-income country,” for 58 years.

L’Oréal’s Mexico Human Resources Director Gabriela Monzón says bringing the company’s core values to Mexico is what makes it a great place to work. “L’Oréal’s mission is to become the first beauty tech company, and we’re actualizing that in Mexico by really investing in training our people in digital skills. We’re definitely one of the more modern companies in the country. ”

Basic training includes Web-based communications and research skills, while more advanced instruction includes digital design and data visualization.

Beyond education opportunities along with other benefits such as a hybrid work model, mentorship programs and extensive maternity and paternity leaves (breastfeeding mothers can take up to two years), Monzón cites the company’s DEI practices, particularly as they pertain to women.

For the fifth year in a row, L’Oréal is among the top 20 gender-balanced companies in the world in Equileap’s Global Gender Equality Ranking. The research examined 3,895 companies, representing 102 million employees globally, on gender equality across 23 countries. In Mexico specifically, out of 230,000 employees, 60% are women.

“This is absolutely not the norm, frankly, anywhere but certainly not in Mexico, where we struggle with a lot of gender inequality and violence against women,” says Monzón, who’s been with the company for nearly 16 years. “Our commitment to women empowerment lends itself to our employees’ overall sense of purpose. Purpose is what ultimately creates happy employees.”

Methodology

To determine the list, Statista surveyed approximately 10,000 Mexicans working for businesses in 25 industry sectors with at least 250 employees in the country between May and July 2022. All the surveys were conducted in Spanish (with an English option) and anonymous, allowing participants to share their opinions openly. The respondents were asked to rate, on a scale of zero to ten, how likely they recommend their employer to others. Statista then asked respondents to evaluate other employers in their respective industries that stood out either positively or negatively. Further, the employees were asked to give their opinions on a series of work-related topics such as working conditions, salary, potential for career development and company image. The final list ranks the 375 employers that received the highest ratings.

See Our Full List Of Mexico’s Best Employers 2022