Mexico Attracts Hexaware as US Business Slows

Hexaware is aiming to use its Mexico center to provide services for its US clients, it has revealed.

The company’s business grew slower than usual in the last quarter due to various reasons, one of them being that it is harder to find new talent, the chief executive R Srikrishna said to the Economic Times.

“The talent supply situation in the US did have an impact on the business in the previous (July-September) quarter, but we expect this to get solved in the next quarter,” he said. “We already have 500 people there [in Mexico] and one option is to source talent locally and move them to the US if required”.

Srikrishna revealed that it has a plan to combat the talent shortage: offer better compensation packages, hire fresh graduates from US campuses and use the Mexico center to deliver projects.

“We are increasing our campus hiring and training in the US and have been doing this since Q1,” he said.

Hexaware is also thinking of hiring local talent in Mexico and then moving employees to the US if they need to, using the TN visa to do so.

Its North American operations grew 2.1% sequentially and 8.6% year-on-year in the September quarter. These operations contribute to 77% of its total revenue. The other issues which affected its growth included cross currency issues, delayed transitions and ramp ups.

The company also is intending to continue to hire talent in India, as it added more than 2,500 new employees in the last quarter. Srikrishna said: “There are lesser issues around talent in India and we have a better programme for training and skill creation here,” he said.

There has been a gradual decline in the amount of H-1B visas issued in the US and now it has emerged that spouses of visa holders will not be able to work in the country.

More and more companies are looking at Nearshore countries as potential options for their businesses, as more organizations open offices in Latin America and the Caribbean.