Discover how nearshore hiring is evolving in 2026

WEBVTT
00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:17.440
Welcome everyone to another episode of the Nearshore Cafe Podcast.
00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:20.800
This is the final episode of 2025.
00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:22.079
What a year it's been.
00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:28.559
I'm your host, Brian Sampson, as you know, and we're sponsored by Plug Technologies, W G G dot Tech.
00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.920
Great way to connect talent all over Latin America with U.S.
00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:32.560
companies.
00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:40.000
And who better to talk about that than my partner in crime, the president of Plug Technologies, Ruben Santana?
00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:46.079
We're going to talk all about what 2025 looked like and what's to come in 2026.
00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:47.679
Ruben, always great to have you.
00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:48.240
Thank you.
00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:48.960
Thank you, Brian.
00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:49.759
Great to be here.
00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:54.159
So let's start maybe looking forward for a second.
00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:59.600
Are you optimistic or pessimistic heading into 2026?
00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:01.119
Very, very optimistic.
00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:02.320
Very, very optimistic.
00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:14.480
And then, you know, the people that we're talking to, that we have been talking to, the people that are reaching out to us clients, I mean, we're seeing some optimism in terms of building teams and wanting talent in Latin America for sure.
00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:14.879
Yeah.
00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:25.840
For the audience's sake, tell us more about maybe like the types of companies, the types of clients that you've been working with over the last year and like what are they thinking about?
00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:26.319
Yeah.
00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:33.120
So I mean, I think a lot of it uh you know, in terms of clients and industries, we're working with, you know, across different, many different industries.
00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:38.239
It's uh, you know, healthcare, a lot of our clients are in healthcare and in fintech or insurance.
00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:40.079
And so we have a number of different clients.
00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:42.560
But I think people are definitely considering cost.
00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:52.879
There's no doubt about that, that they're looking for for lower cost um in in being able to address their IT needs at these companies.
00:01:53.040 --> 00:02:00.879
But even a bigger one than that, I'm seeing a lot of companies that have done in the past have done business offshore.
00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:11.599
They've been in India, they've been in maybe Manila and the Philippines and other places, and they're hearing this whole near shore idea that's become more and more popular.
00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:17.360
And and and now companies are considering like, what is what is this and how can we be a part of it?
00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:37.360
I just spoke to somebody yesterday that it was, you know, very excited to number one, not have people talking to folks offshore at three o'clock in the morning, where they can address their issues, their problems, they can move things faster through the cycle in terms of you know producing systems on their own time zone.
00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:41.039
Those are the kinds of things that I'm I'm seeing a lot every single day.
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:44.479
And it's becoming more and more popular with companies today for sure.
00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:48.240
Yeah, you mentioned cost, which I hear a lot about too.
00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:58.319
But it sounds like maybe the conversation has shifted from what the hourly cost is to what the project bottom line cost is.
00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:04.879
And the project bottom line cost is impacted by how work is done, time zones, alignment.
00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:05.840
Are you seeing that?
00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:06.879
Can you talk more about that?
00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:12.800
Yeah, there's no doubt that, you know, having having these projects done on time is critical.
00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:13.520
It's critical.
00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:27.599
Some of these, some of these projects need to be done on time, and the delays that maybe they've experienced before, you know, offshore is is something, another good reason to be able to want to do this near shore, where they can move things along a little bit quicker.
00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:33.280
And again, you know, cost isn't, I mean, near shore is is never going to be as cheap as offshore, right?
00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:34.319
That's that's a fact.
00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:34.879
We know that.
00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:51.919
And cost, while it may be a factor, it's it's it's overridden by the ability of the ability to get good talent, the ability to get people that can speak English, the ability to be able to turn projects and get them done quickly on time and get them done well with quality work.
00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:56.319
And I think I think a lot of the IT community at companies are seeing that.
00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:59.599
They're dipping their toes, if you will, and trying to figure that out.
00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:02.000
Can I can I get that that kind of quality?
00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:03.599
And uh and they're seeing that they can.
00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:07.280
And we've seen it over and over and over again over the last, you know, three years now.
00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:13.759
I think there's always in the staffing world a push-pool of cost and quality.
00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:18.560
From what I've seen, near shore is kind of like this, like right in the middle balance.
00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:22.639
On shore, it's high cost, you know, and you'd expect high quality.
00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:27.839
The Asia's low cost, but you know, in relation, the quality is a little bit lower.
00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.639
Is that is that what your conversations are leading to?
00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:35.759
That near shore is kind of right in the middle, or maybe even the quality is surprising people.
00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:37.600
I think the quality is surprising people.
00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:38.319
There's no doubt.
00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:39.120
I hear that a lot.
00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:44.959
That they're like, wow, I'm getting good quality work here, these guys, and and they're they're a part of their teams.
00:04:45.279 --> 00:05:01.839
It just, you know, you can have, I love this conversation I had yesterday because we were talking about, you know, the water cooler conversations you have with your team right here in the U.S., that you can have that with people if they're working in Mexico because they're watching the same shows you are, they know about the same food.
00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:04.879
They've even worked, some of them, many of them have worked in the U.S.
00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:07.680
before and gone back to their home in Mexico.
00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:17.040
And so that that conversation becomes a lot easier, which of course builds camaraderie, builds that team spirit, and and makes them more efficient and effective in in their jobs.
00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:17.439
Yeah.
00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:24.480
Is you're having more conversations with companies that are, would you call them near shore curious, or are they even beyond that?
00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:26.720
Like they're kind of near shore ready.
00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:28.800
What are they what are they thinking about?
00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:32.639
And what are some of the most important things to them uh heading into next year?
00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:38.480
Yeah, again, like two years ago, I would say that there's so many that were near near shore curious.
00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:42.959
These days, there's very few that are near shore curious, they're near shore ready.
00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:44.800
They want, they want to be a part of this.
00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:48.879
And whether it's, you know, I'm seeing even, okay, we want to split a team.
00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:52.720
We have a team offshore, but we also want a team near shore.
00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:59.759
So they're seeing the ability of being able to pass along work from offshore to nearshore to be able to keep things moving.
00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:04.560
And and that's seen where before it was pass it off from offshore to onshore.
00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:11.439
And now they're seeing I can scale near shore a lot easier and uh be able to do that same, that same kind of work.
00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:12.800
So we're seeing a lot of that.
00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:16.319
We're seeing a lot of that, and and those are the kinds of conversations I'm having.
00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:20.800
I mean, uh again, going back to 26, the optimism's there.
00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:32.959
I think they're you know, wanting to build small teams and then be able to scale uh from there after they've had the experience and and and had this and seen the kinds of talent that there is uh near shore.
00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:33.360
Yeah.
00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:46.720
Are companies doing like a bake-off near shore versus offshore and testing, or do you see more of the follow-the-sun model and let's let's try to have global teams and the work is passed off?
00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:51.839
Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both, but but I do feel like some of them are just done with offshore.
00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:55.680
They're done, they're wanting to just move their teams to near shore.
00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:59.040
We've we've had a number of companies that we've worked with that have done that.
00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:00.480
And it's not just in India.
00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:14.480
We've we've moved several teams from Manila to to Mexico, where a company just wanted the whole team in Mexico because of time zone, because of the talent, because of the English, for all those reasons, they they made that decision.
00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:14.959
Yeah.
00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:19.920
Off the top of your head, I know you're you're doing lots of placements all across the board.
00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:25.680
Off the top of your head, what are some of the more recent placements, like job titles that you guys have done?
00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:30.000
Yeah, so uh interestingly, you know, of course, you know, everybody's talking about AI.
00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:34.959
You hear a lot about AI audit, and there's no no secret everywhere you turn, it's all about AI.
00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:40.639
But what I'm seeing is not as many um uh AI-related jobs.
00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:43.199
What I'm seeing are a lot of data jobs.
00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:57.040
It's data engineers, data analysts, data, you know, all different types of uh data-related positions that are leading towards being able to develop more AI-related type functionality, if you will.
00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:58.319
So we're seeing a lot of that.
00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:00.399
We've seen a lot of that this these past six months.
00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:05.839
We've also done over the last two years, we've built several Salesforce teams.
00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:12.800
So we we've done, we've done that many times, and and the the client that we work with has we've been doing that in Mexico.
00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:16.800
So we've had good talent in in Mexico to be able to build those teams.
00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:17.199
Yeah.
00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:25.040
Are there roles where maybe near shore is not quite the right fit and they should consider Asia or they should consider onshore?
00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:26.079
It's a great question.
00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:29.680
I I keep waiting for that, but I haven't seen it yet, Brian, to be honest.
00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:30.560
I haven't seen it.
00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:36.639
I mean, we've had some very difficult roles, you know, some tough ones where the talent pool is not so great.
00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:48.080
Maybe some back-end developers with some specialized type uh, you know, things that they're doing that's not as as plentiful, but we've been able to find good talent, still, it's there.
00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:48.639
It's there.
00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:52.639
So I keep waiting for it, but it it doesn't seem there's there's plenty of talent.
00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:56.559
And I think that that that goes to the the education.
00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:03.120
I mean, this these guys that didn't just start working in IT with US-based companies, this has been going on for a long time.
00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:04.960
It just so happens that you know U.S.
00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:13.039
companies are starting to figure that, figure that out that wow, there's people that know, you know, that are good software engineers that have been doing it for 10 years, 12 years or more.
00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:15.759
So they're there, they're good, and they're talented.
00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:16.240
Yeah.
00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:36.080
You know, with the uh H1B pressures and dramatic cost rising in India, are you starting to see more momentum for Latin America and certain types of roles are going to say Mexico or Brazil where they used to think about having an Indian in that seat?
00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:40.399
Yeah, I mean, I haven't had anybody come to me and tell me that's the reason.
00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:56.960
It's because of the H1 cost or but but you gotta you gotta know that from a high level from that C-suite, that's gotta be something that that's that's being talked about, especially if you're you know getting ready to build out some type of project and you're ready to spend some money.
00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:59.919
I know that there's some concern about that for sure.
00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:00.720
I've heard that.
00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:07.200
So yeah, I think it's part of the equation, but I think it's really goes back to the idea that Nearshore is here.
00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:07.840
It's here.
00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:09.120
Companies are doing it.
00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:23.039
Even some of the uh consulting companies in India have established themselves and they they have been for a while, but even more so today, they're establishing themselves in Latin America to be able to also offer that service to their to their clients.
00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:23.440
Yeah.
00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:29.919
What should companies that are, again, not not near shore curious anymore, they're near shore ready.
00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:34.240
And I'm sure they're they're gonna want to talk to a couple different near shore agencies.
00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:41.679
What are some things that they should be asking to these potential vendors uh to make sure that they they make the right choice?
00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:43.279
Yeah, it's a great question.
00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:45.279
And there's there's two types of companies.
00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:51.840
And you know, just to be to be transparent, I mean, we here at Plug, we're we are really a staff augmentation company, right?
00:10:52.000 --> 00:11:01.279
There are some companies we speak to that maybe we're not the perfect fit because they're looking for a project-based company that they're just that's going to be responsible for all the deliverables.
00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:03.679
And that's not something that that we do.
00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:09.279
But but certainly what we do well is find the talent in these different companies.
00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:15.279
I think one of the things that we do really well is educate our clients as to where you can find the talent.
00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:23.039
We do the research, we give them the ideas of, you know, for this particular software engineer you're looking for, this is where the talent exists.
00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:28.159
These are the numbers, and these are the costs associated with it in different countries and where you can, you know.
00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:30.559
So a lot of that education is really important.
00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:35.200
The other thing I think that's uh, well, a couple other things is we deliver on time.
00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:46.480
So, you know, within 24, 48 hours, unless it's something very, very, very difficult, we're gonna have two or three really good candidates in front of our client, and and we should be ready to move toward, you know, to an interview.
00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:53.840
So our recruiters are trained well, they have the experience, they know they know how to define the talent that our clients are looking for.
00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:59.759
We rely heavily and we've been very successful at um at referrals.
00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:09.600
So we've worked with so many good people, and I think everybody knows that is you know, if you're able to get a referral from a good software engineer, generally they're gonna refer someone that's good.
00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:12.080
They're not they're not gonna refer someone that's no good.
00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:18.879
So, so a lot of our a lot of our business has come from referrals, and and that's that's really helped us and made a big difference.
00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:24.000
The other area that I really think that companies don't think about is retention.
00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:29.039
And I'm so proud of our work that we do on that side of the business.
00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:38.320
You know, while we, you know, we work hard at educating clients, our recruiters work hard at finding the talent, but it's what happens after that person is sitting in the seat.
00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:43.840
And what we do at Plug in that in that arena is I I think really special.
00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:49.440
And I think it's a well, it's a testament to our person that that does that work for us, our operations area.
00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:52.000
But it's also our people have told us that.
00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:53.679
They they they comment on it.
00:12:53.759 --> 00:13:04.080
So everything from onboarding to background checks to distributing laptops to these individuals, wherever they are, in whatever country they're at, we make it happen.
00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:06.399
We make it all happen seamlessly.
00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:10.799
And on day one, they're they're they're ready to be, ready to start working.
00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:13.200
And that's what the client really is expecting.
00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:21.759
And we all know that that first week or two is critical to getting somebody onboarded well to be able to be successful in in that project.
00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:27.279
So we do as much as we can to make sure that that happens really, really efficiently for our clients.
00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:34.480
And again, it's an area that I think a lot of companies will, I'll get on a call and they'll say, you know, okay, what's the cost of this and what's the cost of that?
00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:40.080
But when I tell them about the retention piece, that's when they're like, wow, that's really special.
00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:44.559
That that sounds that sounds really great because that is a part of the equation.
00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:49.440
No sense having somebody on for three or four months and um then they they leave for whatever reason.
00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:51.840
So we we make sure that we do a good job on that side.
00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:52.159
Yeah.
00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:57.360
Again, for I guess the new vocabulary we're using this year is near shore ready.
00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:01.919
So for those that are near shore ready, but you know, we also have to be realistic.
00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:10.480
25% of Americans have a passport, and even the ones that have traveled Mexico or Latin America have probably been to Cancun, right?
00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:16.559
So they're a whole world, and I'm sure you have a lot of educational conversations.
00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:30.399
Can you give just kind of like a broad macro understanding of Latin America and maybe like what countries you like for what skill sets and how you might generally advise customers?
00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:35.519
Yeah, I mean, when it comes to software development, we can find the talent almost in every country.
00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:36.879
It exists, okay?
00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:38.799
So we we're able to find the talent.
00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:46.720
Where it begins to separate is when um, you know, a client perhaps is thinking more than just one person.
00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:48.159
They're thinking about a team.
00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:55.360
Ruben, we want to build a team, maybe three start out with, and then we want to go to five, and then maybe later on we'll expand that team.
00:14:55.519 --> 00:15:01.039
That's when it gets a little bit more interesting because the pool of talent isn't as great in every country.
00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:11.360
So then we we recommend some of the larger type countries, maybe a Mexico or Argentina or Brazil, certainly are the three that come to mind that have great pools of talent.
00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:13.440
But then there are some other countries as well.
00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:16.320
I mean, Colombia certainly has some great talent as well.
00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:18.240
We've placed some people in Chile.
00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:27.519
So so there's other places, but when you're thinking about a team, that's when we start to really, really narrow down the countries that that are better for that.
00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:37.759
The other thing I'll mention, and it came up yesterday, and it comes up more often, is we have clients that also are thinking about visiting their people that they're bringing on contract.
00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:42.559
Hey, Ruben, we want to we want to spend some time maybe once a quarter and go see them and go.
00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:49.440
So then it becomes, okay, now we got to locate them maybe in one city and uh so that the client can come visit.
00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:55.679
So again, that that starts to narrow down some of the countries or places where we might find uh some of that talent.
00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:07.039
But again, in terms of technology, I will say, I will say that for like what we've seen this year for data, data engineers, as I mentioned earlier, Brazil has been a great place to find that type of talent.
00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.639
We found some really, really good, good talent in Brazil there.
00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:17.200
As I mentioned, Salesforce, we've we probably have you know 20 Salesforce people working for us today that are in Mexico.
00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:21.120
So again, software engineers, we can find those almost in every country.
00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:21.919
Yeah, yeah.
00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:25.120
Can you talk about uh hardware for a second?
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:36.480
You know, it's something that we usually don't think about until the placement, and that or if I'm a customer, I don't think about and then, oh, well, I have a really important MacBook that I need them to have or something.
00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:38.639
Is it as easy as doing this in the States?
00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:39.360
Is it harder?
00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:40.720
You know, what what should people know?
00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:50.799
Yeah, it's it's you know, we when we started this, it was uh it was interesting and it's it became a little bit of a challenge and and a logistical nightmare, really, to be honest.
00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:51.919
But we've figured it out.
00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:53.039
We we've got it down now.
00:16:53.200 --> 00:17:01.120
We've been doing this for you know three years, three and a half years, and we we understand which countries are great for getting hardware in and getting it out.
00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:04.720
And even if we can't, we've established some centers.
00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:20.640
So, for instance, we have a center in Monterey, Mexico for all of Mexico, where we can bring in hardware, we can refurbish it, we can wipe it clean, we can do all those things to be able to redeploy that machine to somebody else if it's in good good working condition.
00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:21.920
The same in Brazil.
00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:23.279
We can do the same in Brazil.
00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:32.640
So understanding some of these rules, laws, and then even establishing some connections with providers has been really, really important for us.
00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:34.319
And and it works great.
00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:37.519
Um, I'm happy with what we're doing in that arena.
00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:46.640
And clients think that's important because, and you're right, Brian, they don't they don't really think about it at first, but then they think, well, I don't want this guy on his personal laptop.
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.920
I would much rather have him on another secured laptop.
00:17:50.079 --> 00:18:01.119
So we we don't only just give them a laptop, we also have security software that we put on that we can, if need be, we can terminate their their their their session and and lock down the computer.
00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:06.240
We we do involves moving computers, DHL, moving things all over.
00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:12.960
So it is uh it is a logistical area that we've we have figured out quite well, and I'm proud of the team doing it.
00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:13.440
Yeah.
00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:21.519
You know, you you mentioned Monterey, and for those that don't know, uh you were an expat and lived in Monterey for a couple years.
00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:33.119
And I think that's a huge advantage because you can talk or you can walk the talk, so to speak, and uh share your personal experiences with customers.
00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:35.759
When that comes up, um what do you what do you tell them?
00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:41.119
What do um what do you tell our customers about Monterey and good, bad, ugly?
00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:43.519
You know, what what should they think about if they were to put a team there?
00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:44.720
Yeah, I mean, good.
00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:54.000
I mean, when I was there, one of the things that our clients that used to visit us really enjoyed was the fact of, you know, I mean, the how far it was from the U.S.
00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:59.680
I mean, here where I'm sitting right now in Atlanta, it's a two-hour and 40-minute flight, which is beautiful.
00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:04.079
And you can fly in and go see the people, it's safe, it's it's it's wonderful.
00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:07.119
So that's that's what I what I what I tell people.
00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:17.519
But of course, again, when it comes down to building teams and the talent, you know, there's three major cities in in Mexico, which are going to be Mexico City, Guadalajara, and then and then Monterey.
00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:21.359
Those are the three major cities where there is great pools of talent.
00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:27.119
That said, there's talent all over the country that we've been able to employ and have working with us today.
00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:30.319
But but yeah, Monterey's a great place to put a team.
00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.240
Certainly there's plenty of talented folks there.
00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:34.720
There's a great, great university that's very well known.
00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:40.000
Uh, Tech de Monterey is very well known and some great talent that's coming out of that school for sure.
00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:40.480
Yeah.
00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:49.920
Can you talk about a few success stories from this past year that you're you're really proud of and would be great for people to know?
00:19:50.000 --> 00:20:00.640
And maybe even talk about like how they came about and you know, the the steps or the process from you know, first call until they've got happy team.
00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:07.920
Yeah, I think, I think, you know, one of the is a couple of them that that come to mind that to me are really, really uh that stand out.
00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:12.799
Um, I alluded to earlier our being able to get, you know, referrals.
00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:29.680
And you know, I I think that's so key and something that may be overlooked by you mentioned uh companies that are looking for partners because we've seen that happen over and over again where these referrals have made such a big difference and the clients come back and say, hey, he's doing such a great job.
00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:31.200
We're so, so thankful.
00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:39.839
And that's because of that referral network that after three and a half, four years now we have going on in in Latin America that makes a tremendous difference.
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:41.440
We're not always starting from scratch.
00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:46.960
We're not always finding somebody that that we've never talked to or that somebody else doesn't know.
00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:56.559
So we're always looking for that to to help us and give us an edge if you will we've built I mentioned earlier the the Salesforce teams and we've done that and that's been that's been tremendous.
00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:10.240
It's a healthcare client again that wanted to move from Manila to Mexico and we continue to build these teams that we're up to five teams now that we've built in Mexico and that's been a real good experience experience for us.
00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:32.960
We're also working with some small clients you know startups if you will that are really looking for that expert they're looking for somebody that has worked at a startup, understands US culture, that can wear many hats and those are challenging to find people that have all that skill set but yet we've been able to do that for a number of clients and that's been also very gratifying.
00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:35.680
And I know for the client it certainly has been gratifying as well.
00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:36.079
Yeah.
00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.119
Can you talk about the the sequence of steps?
00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:50.640
So maybe a customer talks to you first, you give some advice and get the job description can you talk about sequence of steps from there to the person starting?
00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:51.039
Sure.
00:21:51.200 --> 00:22:26.960
So I mean typically we we have a conversation with a with a client and we'll talk about their needs and why the need exists and all those things for their tech stack, what that looks like a little bit about their culture, what's the kind of culture that they have there and that that's all great great information for us to have so we try to go beyond just a a job description what are the you know what are the three or four things that are going to make this person successful in the job and getting that information once we have that then we're prepared to turn it over to our recruiting team and usually we'll assign that to somebody that will start recruiting for that for that uh for that talent for that particular person.
00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:32.720
And again usually within you know 24 48 hours we have two or three good good candidates.
00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:54.880
Of course we're screening every candidate we're speaking to every one of them we put them through you know uh go through the understanding you know what their background is how does it fit in with the job description how does it fit in with those two or three things that our clients said are key understanding how many years of experience they have so all those things that are important to qualifying a person for that job is what the recruiter is doing.
00:22:55.039 --> 00:23:03.920
Once we once we have that information then we're ready to go to the client with that and and present two or three folks that that hopefully they'll they'll want to talk to an interview.
00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:12.000
If it's rare that that we're off but in the case that we are that just means that we may have to just tweak our search a little bit to find something a little bit different.
00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:31.759
It's never totally off and then we go to interviews and once those interviews are are beginning we'll schedule the interviews for the client we'll make sure that the candidates you know prepared for the interview that they're always video on interviews uh the candidates are are I should have mentioned they they all speak English we we make sure I get that question all the time Ruben do they speak English?
00:23:31.920 --> 00:24:13.839
Yeah they all speak English they all speak English we screen for that we make sure that they're at least an eight or nine out of ten in terms of their level of English so we're always looking for that schedule interviews and usually you know for some of these there could be you know two, three interview process and so we're we're we're talking to the candidate all the way through the process and once that happens and there's a selection or we like this person, then we um and they're prepared for us to make an offer we'll make an offer to that individual and once they sign that offer it kicks off a bunch of other things such as background checks, you know ordering equipment, getting them all ready, setting an onboarding date for them, all those things that have to happen before that person starts.
00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:18.319
So um yeah that's that's really the process it's not it's not complicated.
00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:25.440
It's really starts from that first meeting making sure that we truly understand what the client is is really looking for.
00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:33.279
Sounds like there's really not a whole lot of difference from them from the client hiring somebody locally versus hiring somebody near short.
00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:41.200
It's the same process it sounds like yeah it's it's pretty much if they've got internal recruiters they're probably going through the same process that we are but um yeah exactly.
00:24:41.519 --> 00:25:12.079
Yeah and then just for for clarity for our audience they don't have to payroll anybody plug handles all that plug handles all of that yes we take care of paying them we pay them all in USD which is which is competitive right it's uh it's good because uh there are so many companies that are maybe paying them in their local currency and they prefer being paid in usd so that's that that helps us a lot and and then also many of them are are very interested in the contractor model as opposed to being a full-time employee so so that is also something an advantage for us.
00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:54.319
Yeah as we start to wind down if anybody wants to contact you directly get some advice have a conversation talk through a job description what's the best way to do that uh Ruben at plug dot tech is my email um and you know that that's all it would take just just let me know and I'm happy to be able to to jump on a call and and and talk to uh to anybody about what we do our services our team and even the success stories I think that's a big part of it people want to hear you know Brian I mean I you know as we look about look back here at 25 today we've come a long way we currently today have over 60 folks that are on contract with U.S.
00:25:54.400 --> 00:26:05.680
based clients in Mexico we have another 20 or 20 plus that are in Brazil and then we have another 20 or so that are are around different countries in South America.
00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:22.160
We have a great little um call center team in Nicaragua another great place to find good English speaking talent so so really it's uh we've had a great year it's been fun we're really excited and going into 26 I think it's gonna be another great year.
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:44.559
Yeah me too well Ruben uh as always thanks so much for your uh insight into 2025 and headed into 2026 this podcast is sponsored by plug technologies l ugg.tech and we will see you in the new year happy holidays everybody happy holidays thank you