There are more than 1 million unfilled tech jobs in the United States. Maritza Diaz thinks Tijuana can help fill that gap.
Tijuana has multiple schools that produce highly trained engineers, and their average salaries in Mexico are half of what they would be in the United States. Plus, companies avoid the challenges that come with hiring people half a world away, Diaz said.“For us being in San Diego, in this beautiful area when Tijuana is only 20 or 30 minutes down the road, it doesn’t make any sense to go to India or go to China or the Philippines or anywhere but here,” she said.
“Particularly here in California, where we compete with the big tech of Google, Facebook and AWS, it’s almost impossible for small-to-mid- companies to hire,” Diaz said. “Because every software engineer wants to go to big tech. And it’s not just the brand: It’s their salaries." Rachelle Reyes was in the same program as Patiño. They both got jobs through ITJuana within a year of graduating.“But the cost of living there is much higher, so I guess it kind of balances that out,” Reyes said.