Education is a constitutional right in Puerto Rico, thus ensuring that employers have access to a large pool of qualified job candidates. In fact, Puerto Rico is ranked 6th in the world in higher education enrollment with over 22,000 higher education degrees awarded per year, including over 9,000 science and engineering degrees. Universities and institutions of higher learning offer degrees in a wide range of disciplines including engineering, computer sciences, technology, medicine, law and business. In addition to the island’s 19 public and 49 private institutions, many Puerto Rico residents obtain degrees from U.S. mainland and international colleges and universities. In fact, 145 current NASA employees, including 90 scientists are graduates of Puerto Rico’s higher learning institutions.

Education initiatives in support of the island’s economic development include ViTec, the University of Puerto Rico’s incubator program and INDUNIV, a joint private and public consortium that awards research grants.

These two programs exemplify the strong alliance between business and higher education on the island.

View Puerto Rico's Higher Degree distribution by area of study.

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There are nearly 163,000 skilled workers available for hire in Puerto Rico. Over 2/3’s of these are high school graduates and almost 1/3 have one or more years of post-secondary education. The total potential employee pool is even greater than the numbers imply, since job growth brings more Puerto Ricans back into the labor force domestically and as returnees from the U.S. mainland.

According to a survey of U.S. firms with operations in Puerto Rico, local professionals fill some 75 % of all management positions. The survey also revealed that Puerto Rican workers are equal to or better than their counterparts in other locations on measures of productivity (94%), skills (92%), initiative (90 %), and efficiency (97 %). No wonder 53 of the Fortune 500 companies now utilize Puerto Rico’s productive and committed workforce.

Many manufacturers profit from the strong local talent in technical fields, particularly engineering. In addition, numerous grants, incentives and programs are available through several government agencies to train and develop personnel in the manufacturing industry, regardless of the training area.

Here is the manufacturing employee distribution by industry as of 2001:

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With competitive wages and high productivity, plants in Puerto Rico often rank #1 on measures of productivity and quality within their parent company structures.

In addition, more than 90 plants have obtained ISO 9000 certifications and eight plants have received the Class "A" Oliver Wright, MRP II Certification award. Only 250 plants around the world have achieved this recognition.

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The Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, through several agencies, offers more than a dozen employment and training programs intended to supply staffing needs for the different economic sectors. These programs offer a wide variety of benefits in order to provide the human resources required in different occupations. Other programs offer wage subsidies or reimbursements of up to 100% and for a maximum of a three years period as part of new or advanced training programs.

Click here for more information on these programs

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This high technology enterprise incubator program at the University of Puerto Rico’s Mayaguez Campus provides product development facilities and services to help companies take new ideas to market. It also identifies partnerships with entrepreneurs interested in electronics, telecommunications, information technology and medical devices.

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This consortium of industry, academia and government promotes scientific and technological inquiry, and awards research grants in areas identified by industrial participants. In addition, INDUNIV’s Material Characterization Center offers specialized services, on a fee basis, in the areas of nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, surface microscopy and spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction to clients from industry, government and the academic community.

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Puerto Rico’s vocational and on-the-job training programs offer companies a competitive edge. Technical and vocational training is available at post-secondary vocational schools, such as the Tool and Die School, as well as 121 high schools that offer vocational courses.

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