In Mexico, for example, the amount of local content used in maquila production is still only two percent. The impact of globalisation is forcing zone enterprises to produce more rapidly and cheaply than ever before and to continuously improve. This leads many enterprises to introduce new technology and to seek ways of enhancing labour productivity through financial incentives and training. This shift results in better wages and working conditions, and in the most advanced situations enterprises are using career path systems, self directed teams and profit sharing to ensure that they increase speed and quality while cutting costs. Zone enterprises are addressing some of the social problems that undermine productivity by providing transport and child care facilities, or helping workers find housing.
Many zones are now full of blue-chip investment using technology intensive production processes.
Penang in Malaysia, for example, has 190,000 jobs in electronics plants making hard disk drives, microprocessors and other computer components, and the Philippines seems to be well on its way to recovering its status as the semiconductor producer of preference. In fact, many zones have become too expensive for the small garment factories which had such a reputation for bad working conditions, and the technological advances in semiconductor production have greatly improved working conditions in that industry. Thanks to pressure by NGOs and concerned consumers, the garment industry that does still operate in zones is increasingly bound by codes of conduct that set standards for working conditions. Although very few countries formally bar trade unions from operating in zones, many still make it practically impossible for unions to organise and bargain collectively. Countries like the Dominican Republic and the Philippines have shown that it is possible to bring zones into the normal labour relations system with positive results, and trade unions are making headway in countries from Mexico to Malaysia.