Narayan AmmachchiUS outsourcing firm Auxis is talking of investing $30 million to expand its operation in Costa Rica and adding nearly 700 people to its payroll over the next five years. Ft. Lauderdale, FL-based firm is also likely to launch a digital technology lab in the Central American country, creating numerous jobs for software developers and business analysts.
Auxis, which arrived in Costa Rica in 2011, says its Costa Rican operation has proved to be hugely successful and this success is what laying the foundation stone for further expansion. Auxis already employs more than 200 people in Costa Rica, and the new investment is likely to triple its workforce in the Central American country.
The expansion comes barely weeks after the consulting firm shifted its service center from Ultrapark Free Trade Zone to the America Free Zone in Heredia, saying it wants to make the most of Costa Rica’s nearshore advantages.
Spread across a 100-acre area, the America Free Zone offers tax breaks and its tenants include the likes of IBM, HP, DHL and Dell. From Costa Rica, Auxis is offering wide verities of back-office services, including accounting, billing, IT support, customer service and human resources administration.
Over the past few years, Auxis is focusing on expanding operation in the nearshore region rather than far-flung locales such as India and the Philippines. In an interview with Sun Sentinel, Auxis CEO Raul Vega has stated that his company would one day employ as many as 1,000 people in Costa Rica and expand to Colombia.
The new service center in Heredia, according to Auxis, can accommodate more than 600 people across multiple shifts. Among its clients are Pepsi, Target, Shoes for Crews and Tiger Direct.
“When we opened our original Costa Rica service delivery center in 2011, we knew that our nearshore location would offer a competitive advantage for organizations looking to outsource,” Vega said in a press release. “Our offering has become very appealing to businesses looking for better alternatives to Asia-based models, as evidenced by the fast pace of growth that we are experiencing.”
Political stability and relatively less violence seem to have helped Costa Rica to capitalize on its natural advantages as nearshore outsourcing destination. Today, according to reports, Internet-enabled back-office services account for more than 5 percent of the country’s export revenue.
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