“MARKETABLE PUERTORRICAN WORKERS”
By Terence L. Ryan, President
Sr. Sales & Marketing Consultant of
Ryan Executive Search & Outplacement
(Excerpts from an article in “Diversity, Inc.” published in March of 2005)

More and more, U.S. employers are going to Puerto Rico to seek out its educated, trained and bilingual professionals to fill challenging positions stateside. The pharmaceutical, information-technology and electronics industries are among the biggest talent exporters. Many U.S. national blue chip fortune + international foreign companies have operations in Puerto Rico.

Firms that are recruiting on the island include police departments, school districts and U.S. government agencies. Experienced bilinguals skilled in insurance and health care, finance, accounting, sales and marketing are among those in greatest demand.

Companies that recruit from Puerto Rico’s experienced labor force gain not only the technical knowledge required to fill the duties of the jobs, but more access to emerging markets because of the cultural expertise of bilingual workers.

IBM hires many workers from the Island. In the first quarter of 2004, IBM embarked to Puerto Rico in search of more workers, including engineers, MBAs, managers and computer analysts. Enrique Rodríguez, vice president, worldwide competitive sales for IBM, is a 1980 graduate of the University of Puerto Rico.

More Fortune 500 and resourceful mid-size companies recruit workers in Puerto Rico. The number of hires increases steadily, the University of Puerto Rico adapts its curriculum and offers more business-related courses and degrees to meet the changing needs of employers. 

“Puerto Ricans are very much sought after in the States,” says Evelyn Ryan, Certified Personnel Consultant & CEO of Ryan Executive Search & Outplacement. “They are computer-savvy, team players and hard workers.”

Pharmaceutical giants Abbott Laboratories, Amgen, and Eli Lilly and Co. are just a few of the 50 Fortune 500 companies Puerto Rico-based Ryan Executive Search & Outplacement has worked with to help U.S. firms fill positions for various disciplines. 

Bilingual Puerto Ricans with exposure to the island’s operations of mainland-based manufacturing, pharmaceutical and high-tech companies are especially attractive to U.S. employers. The pillaging of Puerto Rico’s skilled bilingual workers will continue as long as U.S. pharmaceutical, medial and electronics companies continue to pay its workers 30 percent higher salaries or more to work in the states.

United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce former President George Herrera says, “Remember, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and entitled to take part in the capitalist system”. Among the factors he cites that contribute to the pay variance is Puerto Rico’s agricultural-based economy, lower cost of living and the lack of a service-based economy.

Another factor is the unemployment rate in Puerto Rico, which is almost double that of the United States, according to the Department of Labor. In October 2003, unemployment in the United States was 6 percent, while it was 11.4 percent in Puerto Rico. The 2000 census reported 243,000 Puerto Ricans 5 years of age and older relocated to the United States in 1995.

25% percent, or 61,179, moved to Florida, followed by New York, 16 percent; Massachusetts, 8 percent, Pennsylvania, 7 percent, and 6.9 percent to New Jersey. 

“We have good salaries in Puerto Rico, but not for everyone.” Many Puerto Ricans hired stateside are unable to secure jobs in Puerto Rico commensurate to their proficiency level. They are rewarded for their skills, training and linguistic ability with better-paying opportunities in the continental United States.

Puerto Rico, for years to come, will be a continuing resource for the mounting numbers of companies seeking skilled and qualified workers.