Workforce 2020, a global study performed by Oxford Economics, provides information on better human resources practices and advances towards the creation of talent development strategies for the future of the world’s economy.

The Workforce 2020 report, performed  by Oxford Economics and SAP, has identified the main changes the Mexican labour market is facing.

Following a global trend, Mexicans point out that the greatest transformation that is having an impact on workforce is the difficulty companies have recruiting employees with base-level skills (67%). Another variable that impacts workforce is the increasing number of consultants hired (66%), followed by globalization of labour supply (56%), changes in workers expectations (49%) and difficulties recruiting specialized workers (47%).

In addition, there number of contracts with temporary workers is growing and around 82% of Mexican enterprises state they are progressively using this hiring mode. However, less than half of those companies realize this situation demands changes in HR policies.

Another variable is the growing insertion of Millennials to the labour market, which’s impact is only acknowledged by 35% of executives. Similar to what happens in other countries, in Mexico, companies do not really understand Millennials and tend to believe they are more different to other generations than what they actually are.

Nevertheless, companies’ lack of understanding may be extended to most workers, reflecting that only 25% of Mexicans are satisfied with their current jobs.

The most important incentives for Mexican workers are: competitive compensation (70%), retirement plans (66%) and up-dated technology (58%). But, for example, only 39% of employers say they offer competitive compensations and only 34% of employees have access to the latest technology. Nonetheless, it is important to point out that 70% of Mexican workers say their employer provides them with adequate tools to perform efficiently.

Few employees consider that training opportunities would increase their loyalty and commitment to their current job.

As years go by, having technical skills will become a more pressing matter. But less than half of Mexican workers expect to handle such skills in the near future. Therefore, Mexican employers should think of new technologies’ training as a number one priority, as nowadays only 46% of them offer training programs for continuous education and new skills development.

Furthermore, only half of Mexican companies use metrics and benchmarking to measure performance.

According to the report, all these variables show that neither Mexican companies nor workers are prepared to face the challenges that the demand of new technological skills imply.

The Workforce 2020 also analyses leadership in Mexican companies. Results show that only 48% of these enterprises have succession plans for key roles and the same percentage of executives claim that their plans for growth have been hampered by the lack of adequate leaders. Nevertheless, 61% of employees and employers agree on the fact that their company has adequate leadership to achieve success, but only 38% of executives say they are prepared to lead a diverse workforce.