Business Briefs - July 8, 2017

$ doesn’t follow degree

In Mexico, monthly pay for a postgraduate degree employee fell by 10,000 pesos between 2005 and 2016, according to a study by the Salary Observatory of the University Iberoamericano Puebla.

“We would hope that with more education, we would have more pay. But the real salary of those with postgraduate degrees was 24,000 pesos in 2005 and 14,000 pesos in 2016,” said a representative of the university.

For those with a licenciatura (bachelor’s) degree, the salary went from 11,200 pesos in 2005, to 7,600 pesos in 2016. The average of all salaries in this period went from 8,500 pesos to 5,700 pesos.

“There aren’t any strong unions that defend worker’s rights, and many of the unions are tied to business interests,” he noted.

Salaries aren’t necessarily tied to productivity.

“A Volkswagen employee working the same hours, with the same productivity, has a salary that is 4.5 to 7.6 times less than one working in the U.S,” said a researcher.

Network opens office

Discovery Networks is opening an office in Guadalajara to handle the local market and serve as a bridge between its talent and the Tapatio public, said Riverlino Diaz Cebreros, communications manager of Discovery Networks Mexico. In Guadalajara, Discovery produces the show “Mexicanicos”, the most watched series in its “Martes de Motores” (Tuesday Motors) stable of shows, which air in the United States, Latin America and Europe.

Kia to double production

Korean car maker Kia will double production at its plant in Nuevo Leon to some 400,000 vehicles by 2018, said a company spokesman. In May, after one year of production, Kia exported some 130,000 Forte motels to ten countries in Latin America and Asia and 100,000 Rio models to 65 nations. Kia Motors Mexico opened 73 dealers in Mexico in the last 12 months. It now has 5.5 percent of the Mexican auto market.

Pemex workers to get less

Reducing overtime and extra workers, eliminating the inheritance of jobs and cutting free gasoline and gas LP privileges are some of the ways that Pemex is going to reduce its costs this year. These cuts will affect current workers and pensioned ones in the new collective contract being drawn up.