Nearshore Americas

TaskUs Bets on Mexico’s Culture Fit for LatAm Expansion

It’s fair to say that TaskUs, the customer experience outsourcer that has helped the likes of Hootsuite, Groupon and MailChimp grow their businesses, has made a splash in recent years and as a result has been growing itself. When it comes to Latin America, the company, which already has nine partner centers in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Colombia, has its sights firmly set on Mexico, opening its first office in Baja North in late November 2018.

Aaron Davis, Site Director for Mexico, believes the US’ southern neighbor provides an unparalleled nearshore opportunity with a bicultural and bilingual talent pool and easy access through San Diego.

“We are excited to be operating in Latin America, a great complement to our global operations. Currently, our sights are focused on building up our presence in Mexico. We are looking to build out our facilities to house over 1,000 teammates to support our current client base, with room to support new business as well,” he said. The Baja North office currently has 300 full-time employees and is quickly growing.

Employees First, Culture First

TaskUs Mexico Site Director Aaron Davis says the company plans to grow to over 1,000 employees in Mexico

TaskUs’ model has long attracted attention since founders Bryce Maddock and Jaspar Weir set up shop in Manila, Philippines in 2008 and for Davis its position as “the world’s top provider of tech-enabled business services”, is built around its culture.

“We’ve had tremendous success scaling startups, which has made us the most qualified BPO for transformative customer experiences. From day one we’ve put our employees first, recognizing that happy employees lead to better business results,” he said. Davis pointed out that, unlike any other outsourcing company with skyrocketing turnover rates – the industry average is approximately 150% — TaskUs has a 30% annual attrition rate, which leads to consistency for its clients.

“We also have an exceptional referral rate at 61%, compared to the industry average in the 30% range. It shows that our employees not only want to work for TaskUs, but they want their friends and families to also.”

Culture fit is not just important in hiring the right employees, it is also a priority for TaskUs when it comes to clients. “We are excited to partner with some of the world’s most innovative and disruptive companies,” Davis added.

Betting on Mexico’s Bicultural, Bilingual Talent

This, he said, is what makes Mexico a good fit. “With our employee-first culture, TaskUs is excited to be in Mexico where we believe there is a natural alignment between our objectives and the relationship based culture of the country. We believe it’s a fantastic location to build a high-performing team. Additionally, due to its proximity to the border, there is a large pool of bilingual talent including a wealth of former US residents. Mexico is a great option to complement our global operations.”

Davis added that TaskUs is excited to grow its business offering to include bilingual support across all channels in English and Spanish. “There is a large talent pool to leverage, and we believe that by investing in people, providing world-class facilities, and partnering with the community, our business can flourish,” he said.

Davis noted that, as with any new operation, it takes some time to establish a company and fully understand the new market. “While TaskUs is well known in the US and in South East Asia, we are newer to Latin America and thus, have some groundwork to do. We hire local leadership that not only fits with who we are as a business but also has the knowledge to help us grow. We lean on what we’ve learned from past markets, understanding that there will be cultural and operational differences.” The company looks to leverage its experience in other markets and its strong culture-first approach to address these initial challenges.

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TaskUs hopes to become an employer of choice in Mexico, and be recognized as responsible, engaged members of the community. “TaskUs’ success is predicated on fostering strong relationships with our employees. We are committed to providing industry-leading benefits and support continuous self-improvement through training and education. We’re excited to see our growth in the region,” Davis said.

TaskUs also announced new offices in the U.S., Philippines, and Taiwan in November 2018.

Bianca Wright

Nearshore Americas Contributing Editor Bianca Wright has been published in a variety of magazines and online publications in the UK, the US and South Africa, including Global Telecoms Business, Office.com, SA Computer Magazine, M-Business, Discovery.com, Business Start-ups, Cosmopolitan and ComputorEdge. She holds a MPhil degree in Journalism from the University of Stellenbosch and a DPhil in Media Studies from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

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