Technological and demographic change and the transition to a green ecosystem have modified the demand for talent, reconfiguring skills in the world, according to the World Economic Forum.
In Mexico, 46% of university enrollment is concentrated in 10 specific careers, such as Law, Administration or Accounting. which are less linked to strategic sectors.
In this context, the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO) presented Compara Carreras 2025, the platform that analyzes the economic costs and benefits of 65 bachelor’s degrees, with the purpose of evaluating the impact of trends in educational enrollment and the labor market in the future.
The direction of higher education in Mexico by 2050
Currently, in the country 34% of young people between 18 and 22 years old have access to higher education. If the trend continues, the number of graduates is expected to triple by 2050. but 65% of graduates will concentrate on traditional careers.
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The IMCO predicts that by 2050, the country will train 28.7 million professionals in areas with low labor demandwhile unfilled vacancies persist in strategic sectors such as health, energy and information technologies.
The gap between graduates and graduates doubled between 2011 and 2025, going from 90 thousand to 170 thousand people. Resulting in the hypothesis that a university degree is no longer the main requirement to access competitive jobs, reflecting a change in the way companies value talent, prioritizing practical skills over formal certificates.
The labor market in Mexico is advancing faster than the educational system, revealing a panorama with important challenges:
Three out of ten young people lack a career plan, creating vocational uncertainty in a decade according to the OECD, which causes a mismatch between education and employment.
Mexico will lose 300 thousand technicians by 2050, this puts at risk the goal of Plan Mexico to train specialized talent for strategic sectors.
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The five races that have predominated since 2005: Administration, Industrial Engineering, Law, Psychology and Accounting could lose up to 25% of their labor demand in the next five years.
Data and artificial intelligence analysts lead global expansion, but Mexico has few professionals in these areas. Exact and computer science graduates represent 8% of the total.
Closing the gap in graduates in STEM and Social Sciences careers by 2050 requires 1.4 million graduates annually, 137% more STEM graduates than in 2024.
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