Foreign Multinationals Created 16,000 Jobs in Costa Rica in 2019: Cinde

Costa Rican investment promotion agency, Cinde, has announced that the foreign multinational companies it supported to set up operations in the country have created more than 16,000 jobs so far this year.

Thanks to the expansion of these companies, Costa Rica has been enjoying nearly 10% of annual employment growth since 2015.

Even the sparsely populated areas beyond the country’s metropolitan cities have benefited from these multinationals, Cinde claimed in a statement.

“The constant employment growth by multinational companies demonstrates their strong footprint and trust in Costa Rica as a strategic operation with 60% of them increasing the number of jobs in 2019, and 6% maintain their employability levels,” the agency said.

With almost 10,000 employees, the American online retailing giant Amazon is slowly turning out to be the largest private-sector employer.

The retailer’s virtual services centers alone have generated around 1,050 full-time jobs. With its supply chain widening every day, more and more rural residents are finding employment opportunities. Moreover, women account for 50% of these positions.

Despite a small nation, Costa Rica has long been a favorite destination for foreign multinationals looking to expand operations nearshore.  From Akamai to IBM, and Mexifrutas to Sykes, more than a dozen foreign multinationals have expanded operations in the country this year alone.