Puerto Rico will need more tourism, manufacturing, tech workers in 2025
Education will be key to meeting the growing demand for these occupations.
Demand for workers in Puerto Rico’s tourism and manufacturing sectors, as well as service-oriented and tech-savvy candidates across a variety of industries, is expected to continue increasing in 2025 and beyond, human resources experts said.
Manufacturing and tourism
Manufacturing and tourism are two key industries for which the island will need skilled workers in the coming years, Melissa Rivera-Roena, general manager of ManpowerGroup Puerto Rico, said in an interview with News is my Business.
“Puerto Rico is the cradle of manufacturing, and regardless of politics and economic situations, the island continues to be the ideal place where manufacturing companies want to establish their businesses,” she said.
“Puerto Rico also is all about tourism, where we have been making great contributions and have been evolving to be the most searched-for destination in the Caribbean among Europeans,” Rivera-Roena added.
However, she noted, finding the right talent for tourism positions can be a challenge because candidates may have experience but lack the necessary soft skills to excel at these jobs.
“Puerto Rico has five-star hotels and resorts that have the highest quality and service standards, and it can be challenging to find people that have the right soft skills for this industry, such as attention to detail, an ability and desire to serve customers, and the ability to self-manage and make strategic decisions,” she said.
Focus on service
Puerto Rico needs to develop a more service-oriented mindset, Viviane Fortuño, president of CTI Consulting Group, told News is my Business.
“Regardless of industry — whether in hospitality, health care, sales or call centers — the purpose of service is to create good experiences for clients. This requires people skills and a service mindset,” Fortuño explained.
Because the tourism industry aims to create unique and memorable experiences for customers, service is at the core of most occupations in the hospitality industry, she said. “From receptionists or concierges to restaurant managers, chefs, wait staff and room attendants — the focus is on service.”
Technology-driven
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated Puerto Rico’s adjustment to technology, forcing the human resources field to adapt accordingly, Manpower’s Rivera-Roena said.
“We now have to look at how well the talent we seek works with technology,” she said, adding that the island will need more people working in tech fields and workers outside those fields who know how to use technology.
“We have to look at it this way: What industry, what sector doesn’t operate using technology? None. Technology changes quicker than manual processes, and who changes that? People. About 45% to 47% of the job vacancies we filled this year apply to technology,” she said.
CTI’s Fortuño mentioned several tech-driven occupations that will be in higher demand next year and beyond, including software developers, data scientists and analysts, cybersecurity experts, artificial intelligence and machine learning engineers, cryptocurrency managers, market intelligence analysts, and e-learning specialists.
“We need people to manage the machines that automate processes and improve decision-making. Robots don’t manage themselves and do everything,” she said.
Fortuño sees “the AI invasion dominating in 2025” and noted that there is significant misinformation in this area.
“It’s not just ChatGPT. It’s large language models, robotics, blockchain, computer vision, deep learning, etc. As a result, careers dealing with AI ethics and intellectual property will be on the rise,” she said.
Fortuño also sees a greater need for health care professionals, project managers, sustainability specialists, renewable energy experts, circular economy specialists, cultural/organizational transformation consultants, and diversity and inclusion consultants.
Education and short careers
The key to meeting the increasing demand for these occupations will be education, both experts agreed.
“Education has to play an important role,” Fortuño said. “Schools need to evaluate their curricula to align it with the jobs that are in demand, because right now they’re not aligned.”
A notable trend both Fortuño and Rivera-Roena mentioned is students choosing short careers — fields of study that take less than four years to complete.
While working on a community project, Fortuño interviewed high school juniors and seniors.
“Many — I would say 60% — said they don’t plan to go to college because of lack of money for tuition, because they need to work to help at home, or because they don’t know what they want to study or what they want to do,” she said.
More colleges and universities are adjusting certain fields of study to require fewer years of schooling. Bachelor’s degrees that used to require four or five years are being reduced to two or two-and-a-half years, Rivera-Roena said.
“Short careers are gaining momentum because this is what the current generation wants. They want to complete their studies quickly because they want execution,” she added.
Occupations in air conditioning, electricity, plumbing, truck driving, nursing and pharmacy, to name a few, are as essential to Puerto Rico’s economy as long-term careers, Rivera-Roena said.
