Bulletin 430 - Friday, July 24, 2009

Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua,- After some rather slow months. employment bureaus are intensifying their recruitment tasks for maquilador sector again. Yesterday, Soluciones Productivas, a local firm, installed a recruitment module in order to find operators for several maquilas including Foxconn, Thermotech, Wistron and Electrolux. Martin Martinez from said firm said that some maquilas have engaged their services to find personnel for new operations relocated here or simply to meet an increase in orders. Thermotec and Foxconn are growing and they require more personnel, he said. Other companies, such as Wistron and Electrolux, are preparing for an upturn in orders, which they are confident will be up to par with economy's rebound early in 2010. "Maquilas are starting to feel confident rebound will come in 2010 and they are already getting prepared, recruiting qualified personnel; they think there is plenty of available personnel now, because hundreds of people lost their jobs", he said.

Guadalajara, Mexico,- Electronics Productive Chain Association. Cadena Productiva de la Electrónica (Cadelec) reported that in the first half of the year one thousand out of the two thousand jobs forecasted for the year were generated, in addition to having 2% monthly personal rotation. "This year has been particularly difficult for everybody, yesterday we heard President Calderon say that the country has been affected by 9%, which is significant. What we at Electronics Industry have done is trying to consolidate what we have and try to grow", Octavio Parga Cadelec Chairman pointed-out. He said that out of five investment projects, three have been materialized at Freescale, Tata and Jabil. He thinks that by year-end the other two may be materialized, focused mainly in software and animation area.

Mexico,- The Swiss transnational company Nestlé. invested MEP$1.7 billion in several facilities in the last 18 months in the State of Queretaro, in central Mexico, President Felipe Calderon was proud to say. Calderon inaugurated Nestlé de Mexico's Flexible Manufacturing Plant and the Open Innovation Center. He added that these investments are added to the purchase of Gerber Baby Food and the construction of a beverage bottling plant. Nestlé is a Swiss transnational company with presence in over 86 countries; they have been in Mexico for 79 years.

Ciudad Juarez, Chih,- Factors such as increase in orders, employment. recuperation beyond forecasts, the arrival of new companies, interest by companies in investing here and lease buildings are the first clear signs of a rebound in local maquilador sector. Soledad Maynez Bribiescas, Chairwoman of Maquiladoras Association, said that maquiladora industry reached rock bottom last June and this is the beginning of a rebound. The improvement in US economic indicators and the return of consumer confidence there, she said, are the main factors responsible for said rebound. Ms. Maynez Bribiescas said that in Ciudad Juarez maquiladora plants from different sectors already register an increase in orders, and they are therefore expanding their buildings and recruiting more personnel. She further said that around 7 thousand jobs have been recuperated in the sector, a figure larger than forecasts for this year, which was generating close to 5 thousand jobs.

Ciudad Juarez, Chih- Lear Corporation is hiring again, there are 200 vacancies in Monarca Complex and Juarez Plant. More than one thousand people have been there to deliver their applications; many of them slept in-front-of the facilities, making line since 4:00 a.m. Gloria Porras Valles, General Secretary of the Workers and Farmers Union, Confederación Revolucionaria de Obreros y Campesinos (CROC), which represents workers in Lear plants, where harnesses are manufactured, said that the Corporation has started hiring again to fill 200 positions, 100 in Juarez plant and 100 in Monarca Complex. She said that Lear's Automobile Harness Manufacturing Division has ended technical stoppages and is now hiring, even if at a lower scale, to fulfill on time agreements entered with customers in the last few weeks. Porras Valles said they are confident export maquiladora industry here will gradually go back to previous production, exports, and employment levels. She also said that in the second half of the year it will be plants in the automotive field which will require increasing their labor force, and things may go back to normal in the first quarter of 2010.

Detroit, USA,- Chrysler will resume. production in seven assembly plants in North America which stopped activities when the Company filed for Chapter Eleven. The Company, which was purchased by a group where the Italian Fiat participates, will reopen five plants in the United States, one factory in Mexico and another one in Ontario, Canada. The Firm said they will later announce operations resumption in other assembly plants.

Mexico City,- The German. automotive company Volkswagen will confirm the US$1 billion investment to be made in their Puebla Plant (in central Mexico) meant to manufacture a new model. The initial announcement was made in 2008, but details of the new model to be manufactured will now be disclosed. The investment to be made by this German company will be spent in expanding current facilities, in Puebla, near Mexico City, where close to 13 thousand 500 people work. Puebla Plant has a daily production capacity of one thousand 800 automobiles, models Bora, Variant, Jetta and Beetle, of which 80% are exported to other countries. The Company has resorted in the last few months to technical stoppages to cut down production and avoid laying off workers. Automotive industry is one of the most active in the Mexican economy, because foreign multinational companies have installed many manufacturing plants here to take advantage of low labor costs and NAFTA. However, automobiles production in Mexico suffered a year-to-year drop of 42.9% in the first quarter; sales, both abroad and domestic, also fell down according to the Mexican Automotive Industry Association, Asociacion Mexicana de la Industria Automotriz (AMIA), of which Volkswagen is member.