Cisco has pledged $4 billion of investment in Mexico across the next two years, with the aim of boosting production and expanding its workforce in the market.
During a meeting with Mexico’s President Enrique Nieto, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins confirmed that the company planned to increase manufacturing of equipment such as routers, servers, switches, telepresence screens and wireless access points within Mexico. Its plans involve the creation of 270 direct and 77 indirect jobs in Mexico.
The investment pledge comes around a month after Cisco confirmed that it would be cutting 5,500 jobs, equating to 7% of its international workforce. The US based company did not specify the markets where the cuts would take place.
As part of its Mexican strategy, Cisco will expand its production plants in the country and increase its output by contracting manufacturers. According to Bloomberg, the stated $4 billion figure factors in some previously planned spending.
Cisco’s investment of Mexico could be controversial ahead of the US presidential election, with Republican candidate Donald Trump claiming he would raise taxes on companies that outsourced production to Mexico, citing the example of motor company Ford which is planning to construct a new $1.6 billion factory in the market.
