Drawing from his personal philosophy, Popular Inc. CEO Ignacio Álvarez shares his vision for the Island's present and future.
Youth, creativity and entrepreneurship are some of the elements that Popular Inc. CEO Popular Inc. Ignacio Álvarez highlighted when asked what he sees in Puerto Rico today that makes him optimistic about the future.
During a special episode of the podcast Punto Aparte, Álvarez noted that he sees people working hard and wanting a better country, including Puerto Ricans returning to the Island. "Maybe it's not the number we want, but I see them coming back."
His words reflect an optimistic outlook he has developed throughout his life.
"Here, the biggest disease is pessimism. If I have a philosophy of life, it's optimism. You can't improve the world if you can't imagine a better world."
The Popular Inc. leader, in conversation with Ric Elías, CEO of Red Ventures, acknowledged that Puerto Rico faces challenges such as improving its labor force participation rate. In September 2024, the participation rate stood at 44.3%, according to the Department of Labor and Human Resources (DTRH).
He therefore emphasized the need to find ways to keep people in the workforce. As an example, he mentioned that they ran an experiment to extend paid maternity leave to four months at 100% pay.
"We realized that, in the year after we did that, 97% of the women who went on maternity leave came back, compared to before (2022), when it was around 80%," he explained.
By comparison, Puerto Rico's Ley de Protección de Madres Obreras establishes that pregnant workers are entitled to four weeks of rest before giving birth and four weeks after. They may also choose to take only one week of prenatal leave and extend postnatal leave to seven weeks.
Álvarez also pointed out the lack of training programs to prepare people for the workforce. "We believe strongly in offering internships to people, recruiting them, giving them access to interesting jobs where they can learn and develop new skills," he said.
While he acknowledged that Popular is not the only company making similar efforts, he said more initiatives of this kind are still needed.
How does he see the situation in Puerto Rico?
Álvarez projected "stable" and "gradual" economic growth in Puerto Rico of between 1% and 1.5% over the next five to six years, with the possibility of reaching 2%.
"I see the economy doing well. I also don't want us to get complacent, because there is a lot of work to do. We shouldn't be satisfied with 1% and 1.5%. We should aim for 3% or 4%," he said, adding that the Island needs more investment to reach those numbers.
For Álvarez, education and access to housing are two of the issues that deserve the most attention in order to strengthen Puerto Rico's economy.
In his view, one of the main obstacles facing people who want to return to the Island is the difficulty of finding housing at prices they can afford on their salaries.
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He also said that politics needs to be taken out of the Department of Education and that the system needs to be decentralized.
"The system we have, I don't know if it can be reformed. I think this pilot to decentralize the system is very good if they let it move forward," he said.
The plan to decentralize the education system seeks to delegate administrative and educational functions, currently carried out at the central level, to the educational regions, in order to give school communities greater autonomy.
Álvarez also said the education system should focus on prioritizing children, for example in the vocational area. "Puerto Rico has exceptional musical talent. Our children are talented. Our population and our young people are talented, and it's a matter of drawing that talent out of them," he said.
Why have an optimistic philosophy of life?
According to the executive, his guiding principles, optimism and moving forward, have helped him get through "hard blows" such as the loss of his wife.
He said his wife's death was a major change in his life, which led him to decide to "do something completely different" and leave his career as a lawyer for the world of banking.
"When you go through something like I went through, you realize that life is a miracle. My wife died at 51. She didn't see her grandchildren born. She didn't see her daughters get married. God gave all those blessings to me. He gave me the blessing of being CEO of a large company, a unique opportunity in Puerto Rico. That happens, in part, because you think you can make it happen," he said.
For the leader of Popular Inc., optimism is key both to overcoming personal challenges and to moving Puerto Rico forward. "I believe that if you want to see the seeds of the future, they are there. As a society, we have to water and fertilize them so they grow," he said.
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Listen hereThis content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
