Published on 1 February 2026

Mexiko: Employment

Mexico is not a country of immigration. It is not easy for foreign nationals to obtain a work permit in Mexico. Mexican employers are required by law to give priority to local workers.

In order to hire a foreign national, an employer must prove that they are unable to find a Mexican worker on the local labour market. Under the Ley federal del Trabajo (Federal Labour Act), the percentage of foreign nationals employed by a company may not exceed 10%.

Furthermore, a good knowledge of Spanish is usually necessary to be able to work in Mexico.

Employment law

Working conditions are laid down in the Ley federal del Trabajo (Federal Labour Act). The statutory working week is 48 hours, from Monday to Saturday. There is no specific official retirement age in Mexico. However, workers who have contributed to the Mexican social security system, managed by the Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social (IMSS), are eligible for a retirement pension starting at the age of 60. Employees are entitled to an uninterrupted paid annual leave of 12 working days after completing their first year of service. For each additional year of service, this leave increases by two working days. Starting from the sixth year of service, the leave increases by two days for every five years of service (Arts. 76 and 78 Ley Federal de Trabajo). Overtime work must be financially compensated at double the regular pay and triple for work on Sundays (Arts. 74 and 75 Ley Federal de Trabajo). Under the current legislation, maternity leave is 84 days, with 42 days taken before the birth and 42 days taken after the birth. Paternity leave is 5 days.

PROFEDET (Spanish)

PROFEDET is a federal agency under the ministry of labour and social security (Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social) that is responsible for protecting workers' labour and social security rights.

Instituto Nacional de Migración (Spanish)

Mexico's national migration agency Instituto Nacional de Migración is tasked with implementing migration policies in compliance with Mexican laws and international treaties.

Work permit

It is the employer's responsibility to apply for a work permit with the Instituto Nacional de Migración (National Institute of Migration). Applicants should contact the Mexican embassy in Bern for detailed information about residence and work permit procedures. Leave enough time to find out what documents you will need to submit to apply for a work permit.

Mexican embassy in Switzerland (Spanish)

The Mexican embassy in Switzerland can provide you with more information.

IMF Country Report

The IMF Report for Mexico provides information on economic developments in the country.

Finding a job

National Employment Service jobs portal

Jobseekers can use the electronic platform of the Servicio nacional de empleo (National Employment Service) or contact the Mexican-Swiss business association Asociación Empresarial Mexicano Suiza (AEMS).

Mexican-Swiss Business Association (Spanish)

The Mexican-Swiss Business Association provides information about public sector job vacancies.

Jobs portal (Spanish)

Portal del Empleo is a job portal operated by the Mexican Department of Labour and Social Welfare that helps job seekers find job vacancies.

Private employment agencies

To find a job, you can consult online job portals, place an ad in Mexican newspapers and/or use your personal connections. A good and well-known job portal is CAMEXA (German–Mexican Chamber of Industry and Commerce).

Private employment agencies (Spanish)

You can find private sector job vacancies on the CAMEXA website.

Recognition of educational qualifications

Information on the recognition of qualifications can be obtained from various organisations, including the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) and the European Network of Information Centres (ENIC-NARIC).

Recognition of foreign qualifications, SERI

Questions on the recognition of foreign qualifications can be addressed to the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) (Spanish)

Contact the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) if you have questions about the recognition of foreign qualifications.

ENIC-NARIC

Information on the recognition of academic and professional qualifications is available on the enic-naric.net website. The addresses of national information centres (e.g. Swiss ENIC) are also provided.