Education in Hermosillo:

• Hermosillo has more than 13 universities with 33,000 students—more than 4,500 graduates per year (University programs are between 4 and 5 years long).
• 2,300 students enrolled in IT related programs.
• 500 graduates per year in IT programs, plus another 500 from other Universities in Sonora.
• Universities are partnering with Vangtel (and with its parent company the Offshore Group) to adapt and fine-tune courses to particular industry needs.
• Hermosillo also has other technical schools similar to junior colleges in the U.S.
• Many graduates have an excellent background in Microsoft Technologies (.Net platform, Office, SharePoint, SQL Server, etc) and Open Systems (Java, MySQL, PHP, etc).
• Engineering focus is very popular in Hermosillo Universities.

Current Jobs in Hermosillo.
Local IT jobs include software development, technical support, communications and network support, and consulting services around the implementation of software and computer assembly.  The level of expertise in Hermosillo equals any location worldwide, and many job seekers are certified in multiple technologies. Many of the software products developed in Hermosillo are sold internationally.

• There are more than 50 companies in Sonora that focus exclusively on software development, while employing an excess of 500 people.
• Hermosillo has a local Computer Manufacturer that produces more than 100,000 computers each year.  

English. 
Although there are no official English proficiency statistics, we estimate that 20% of university graduates have very good English skills.  The reasons are:

• Hermosillo has several bilingual schools, which include: 4 elementary schools, 4 junior high schools, 3 high schools and 2 universities
• Most Universities have required English programs, and they demand a minimum proficiency to graduate.
• Hermosillo is very close to the border.
• Similar culture, travel to Arizona, family ties, movies, music (MTV, VH1, IPODS), cable TV (HBO, Cinemax, ESPN), and shopping in local stores (Wal-Mart, Office Depot, Sam’s Club) contribute to proficiency.
• Hermosillo has a program in place that is teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to 90,000 elementary kids.

Training.
Vangtel has alliances with language schools and software companies which provide training and certification in key technologies (Microsoft developer, Microsoft tech infrastructure, Java Developer, etc). These services mutually benefit employees and corporations.

Success Stories.
There are many companies producing software in Hermosillo for business markets in the U.S. The company quepasacorp.com (NASDAQ: QPSA) has a news portal oriented to the U.S. Hispanic market.  With 70 people working in their Hermosillo facility, they provide professional web design, programming and bilingual tech support in English and Spanish.

Other stories in the news.
India’s two biggest outsourcing companies (Infosys and Tata) recently announced the opening of their own subsidiaries in Mexico, with intentions of hiring 3,000 programmers each.

Ford Motor Company.
Ford Motor Company has a plant in Hermosillo which has achieved Best Plant of the Year in 7 of the past 20 years. This commitment to quality is a good example of the kind of technical background that the people of Hermosillo and Sonora possess.