Need digital talent for your San Diego business? Tijuana can help

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.

Want to know more about WTCSD? Click here to receive our monthly Global Brief Newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.

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Tijuana is helping San Diego’s software companies grow

EDC’s Trade and Competitiveness in North America study launched in 2018 identified the innovation economy as a growing industry in San Diego County, Imperial County, and Baja California—otherwise known as Cali Baja. Among the key takeaways from this study, the high-value services offered in Cali Baja are the future of trade in North America.

According to the study, by 2020, 51% of total trade within Cali Baja will take place in the service sector, not in commodities. This growth creates service sector creates opportunities within San Diego and Tijuana for cross-border collaboration and development within San Diego’s current innovation economy.

To further support this trend, WTC San Diego provides tailored services to San Diego-based companies considering Baja California for expansion. In Q3 2019, WTC San Diego offered consultative services to two tech companies considering expansion into Tijuana, Baja California. One of the companies is a business intelligence services company, which provides its clients with various IT solutions. The other is a logistics company focused on supporting the manufacturing industry. Both of these companies are expanding their software activities by leveraging the competitive advantage in Tijuana’s innovation ecosystem.

In order to help the company’s executives understand the TJ tech ecosystem, WTC San Diego coordinated visits to various locations and facilitated introductions to key public and private sector partners for both San Diego companies. The key partners included Tijuana EDC, Eazy Workspace, MIND Hub Tech Incubator, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Red Door Interactive, which are all valuable examples and assets to companies exploring Tijuana.

As their expansion process continues, WTC San Diego will continue providing consultative services to these companies and any others that are interested in learning more about software capabilities south of the border.

For more information on WTC’s cross-border activity, contact Jesse Gipe at JG@sandiegobusiness.org.