Skills Development and Use: The Case of Migrants from Mexico City in Leon, Guanajuato

This article presents a study of skills development and use among migrants from Mexico City living in Leon, Guanajuato. Data from the General Population and Housing Census 2000 on the inhabitants of Leon show that migrants from large urban centers tend to have higher income, educational and occupational levels than other residents. This led the authors to investigate whether the experience of working in major urban centers is related to the development of skills that account for the socio-economic differentiation yielded by the census data. A field study carried out in the city of Leon showed that efficiency, effectiveness, resilience and assurance are the main skills developed by migrants from Mexico City. Only 40% of the men and 25% of the women encountered barriers to using their skills, which mainly involved certain attitudes on the part of local firms, the existence of rigid organizational structures and undeveloped labor markets.