Mexico’s English Gap: A Strategic Threat to Nearshoring Success

Mexico’s English proficiency score fell by 19 points in the latest EF English Proficiency Index, placing the country 103rd worldwide and coming at a moment when Mexico can least afford it. As nearshoring reshapes North American supply chains, the mismatch between language capabilities and market demands has become impossible to ignore. 

The gap is most visible in Mexico’s manufacturing hubs. States like Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Baja California, and Chihuahua all rank as “very low” in English proficiency, despite attracting billions in foreign investment and supporting thousands of jobs that depend on daily interaction with international partners.

This gap persists not because English is ignored in Mexico’s education system, but because language is still treated primarily as academic content rather than an economic driver. Mexico has mandated English education for more than a decade, yet research points to implementation gaps and a program that has not been fully integrated into a national strategy—like one tied to how and where language is used at work. Too often, success is measured by hours of instruction or exposure to the language, rather than by whether graduates can communicate effectively in job-relevant situations.

What Businesses Want

That misalignment creates both an opportunity and an obligation for the private sector. Companies can’t wait for public education to catch up when operational competitiveness depends on bilingual talent today. Fortunately, in some places, they haven’t waited.

Ciudad Juarez is one such region. Speaking at the IFE Conference 2026 at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Raquel Borjón, leader of Talento Juárez and former human resources director at Bosch, shared how a coalition of 12 major employers came together to examine the gap between academic preparation and job readiness. The goal was to better understand what graduates could actually do upon entering the workforce, and where companies were being forced to invest heavily in additional training.

The findings pointed to a common challenge: Sustaining growth will require moving beyond predominantly operational roles toward more specialized positions, while increasing productivity and efficiency across the workforce. Borjón argued that addressing this gap depends on a coordinated ecosystem, with companies clearly articulating their needs, the government providing supportive frameworks, and universities aligning programs more closely with labor market demands.

The experience in Ciudad Juarez reflects a broader challenge. An OECD analysis of skills development in Latin America shows that the region lags in organized adult training, while employers consistently cite skill shortages as a barrier to growth. As nearshoring accelerates, this gap becomes harder to ignore. Companies investing in Mexico increasingly need workers who can integrate into global operations, not just fill assembly positions.

Turning Language Learning Into Workforce Capability

Language learning plays an important role in closing this gap. As companies move beyond operational roles toward more specialized positions, the ability to communicate — across teams, functions, and borders — becomes essential to productivity and economic growth. Additionally, employees who can participate in meetings, understand technical instructions, and collaborate with international counterparts are better positioned to contribute earlier and rise faster within an organization. 

For language learning to support that shift, however, it must be measured in ways that matter to employers. Language certification plays a critical role by turning learning into a shared standard. Without clear benchmarks, training is often evaluated by time spent rather than capability gained, leaving employers uncertain about the readiness of future employees. Programs aligned with recognized frameworks, such as the Common European Framework of Reference, should set the bar for evaluating what learners can actually do in real-world contexts.

Policy can accelerate progress by incentivizing corporate language training, recognizing industry-university partnerships, and funding mechanisms that reward demonstrated outcomes rather than enrollment alone. These signals help reinforce the idea that language proficiency is not supplemental, but foundational to economic growth.

Universities, for their part, must become more responsive. The traditional model of developing language curricula in isolation cannot keep pace with shifting trade patterns and workplace demands. Institutions that partner closely with industry — co-designing programs, embedding job-relevant communication tasks, and measuring success against employer needs — will help produce graduates ready not just to enter the workforce, but to advance within it.

Nearshoring presents Mexico with a rare opportunity to strengthen its position in the global economy. Realizing that opportunity will depend not only on infrastructure and investment, but on people who can communicate, collaborate, and lead across borders. Language learning, when treated as economic capability rather than academic exercise, becomes one of the most powerful tools Mexico has to turn growth into long-term competitiveness.