Shared service centers in Costa Rica are major employers

Shared service centers discovered Costa Rica 20 years ago

More than 60,000 positions for Costa Rican workers confirm the importance of shared service centers in Costa Rica.  In 2000, when the first operations of this type were established in the country, there were just six companies present that, when taken together, employed just over 1,000 workers. 

According to information provided by Costa Rica’s international investment promotion agency, CINDE, more than 154 companies with shared service operations are currently resident in the country. 

Among the businesses that export their services are British American Tobacco, Cargill Business Services, Baxter Americas, Citi, Glaxo-Smith Kline, Kimberley Clark, Oracle, Pfizer, Walmart, Proctor & Gamble, Roche, among others.  They provide a diversity of services within their corporations, from Costa Rica to the world. 

One company that has recently expanded its shared service center activity in Costa Rica is Hologic.  Hologic is a medical technology company that has had a presence in the country for 15 years. It is focused on improving the health and well-being of women through manufacturing products that provide early detection and treatment of disease. 

In addition to employing approximately 700 people at its production facility in Costa Rica, Hologic established a new Financial Shared Service Center in June of 2019.

When shared service centers in Costa Rica began appearing on the scene at the beginning of the present century, they consisted mainly of operations that provided call center solutions.  Since that time, however, shared service centers in Costa Rica have evolved and increased in the complexity of the activities that they have been established to perform.

Today they are involved in financial services, engineering, human resources, information technologies, tax services, and purchasing tasks.  Companies that have established such operations in Costa Rica have accessed one of the best-educated labor forces in Latin America.

In addition to being a factor that benefits the multinational companies that choose to join existing shared service operations in Costa Rica, employees also are able to reap advantage.  According to Costa Rica’s export promotion agency, Procomer, shared services companies that operate in the country under its  Free Zone Regime pay their workers salaries that are approximately 80% higher than the national average.

Shared services centers in Costa Rica experience continuous evolution

Changes in the shared service sector of the Costa Rican economy occur continuously.  According to the prestigious international consulting firm, Deloitte, the transformation of the country’s shared service centers into global service organizations (Global Business Services) requires different types of corporate governance models, as well as new talent and skill profiles.  Above all, however, the process demands an environment that encourages innovation. 

Costa Rica, its educational system, and its workforce represent an environment that is conducive to shared service center growth and change. 

For instance, the operations that arrived at the country about twenty years ago (such as Western Union and P&G, two of the pioneers) were operationally simple facilities.  The companies that are in Costa Rica today have evolved so that they now demand more and more talent, more quality education, and more technological and digital skills.  The market demands these things that enable it to deliver superior customer service to corporate customers.

To put things concisely, the strengths to which the country plays to attract shared service centers to Costa Rica are, in this order: education (with high levels of English fluency), legal security, as well as political, economic, and social stability. 

Additionally, Costa Rica has been blessed with an optimal geographical location in the center of the Americas.  Due to these factors shared service centers in Costa Rica is the sector that generates the most foreign direct investment-based jobs in the country.

Geared up for global competition

Much of the success of attracting shared service centers to Costa Rica is attributable to the country’s network of free trade agreements and free zones that has been established over the years.   

Given the fact that Costa Rica’s success in this area has been considerable, it is projected that more shared service centers will make a home for themselves in Costa Rica. 

Should you be interested in learning more about setting up a shared service center in Costa Rica, contact the Central American Group by using the form that is provided below.