Because companies dedicated to the provision of services are more effective than product manufacturers and their growth is more accelerated, economies such as those of Central America could bet on the outsourcing of technology services.
In this context of sanitary and economic crisis, generated by the covid-19 outbreak, several economic sectors were affected due to the restrictions imposed, but, in contrast, companies involved in the provision of technological services reported a significant growth.
Due to the precariousness of the English language, in recent years’ companies in the Contact Center & BPO sector have decided to close thousands of jobs in the region and relocate their investments to other markets where they have no difficulty in recruiting qualified personnel.
Reports at a global level show that the command of English is one of the weaknesses at a Central American level.
Stryker, a medical technology company, opened a new financial services center to be located in the province of Heredia, from where it will support all its financial activities in the Americas.
The operation is in San Antonio Business Park, in Heredia, where the company opened its offices since last April, according to official information.
The company announced that the new service center specializing in finance and accounting, which will be in Heredia, arises as a result of an alliance with the chain Walmart.
Genpact, a multinational professional services company dedicated to digital transformation, reported that from its new service center in Costa Rica, will support Walmart's operations in Latin America.
The government informed that in San Miguelilto it is projected to invest $39 million in the implementation of a digital free trade zone, which is expected to install computer technology companies and centers of higher and technical studies.
Authorities of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (Mici) said that in a first stage, the private company will invest $10.6 million and then another $28.3 million will be disbursed.
The company reported that by 2020 will close its Financial Shared Service Center in Costa Rica, as part of a corporate strategy focused on fewer centers, but larger.
"While we will close this center, Amway remains committed to the Costa Rican market and will continue to provide support to our businessmen and customers, our commercial operations in Costa Rica will continue normally," states a company statement.
IBM announced that this year it plans to invest in the expansion of its Global Security Services Center in Heredia, Costa Rica.
The expansion triples its operating capacity and will mean a $21 million investment throughout 2019, informed the Costa Rican Coalition of Development Initiatives (Cinde) in a statement.
From the Cinde statement:
Costa Rica, April 4, 2019 - In an official event attended by the Government of Costa Rica and the Costa Rican Coalition of Development Initiatives (CINDE), IBM announced the expansion of the operations of IBM's Global Security Services Center, in Heredia, in the America Free Zone, from where security events are monitored for hundreds of clients in more than 130 countries.
Akamai, a company dedicated to cybersecurity solutions and technical support services, invested $6 million in the refurbishment of its new headquarters in the country.
The company projects a payroll growth of around 30% at the end of 2019. The company's new headquarters are on three floors of the Roble Corporate Center.
During the last year, Contact Center and BPO service sector exports were estimated at $600 million, 12% less than the $720 million reported the previous year.
Some of the factors influencing the failure to reach the job creation projection include the fact that no English language skills have been generated in young people, and at the time of the forecasts the exchange rate in the country was Q8.2 to one dollar, and now the rate has dropped to Q7.7.
Amazon has opened a new service center in San José, from where it will provide support to small and medium companies who sell their products on the platform.
In 2009, Amazon started its Seller Support operations in Costa Rica with only 30 employees. Today, its new site - El Tobogán Corporate Center - now houses 900 employees.The company has invested close to $10 million dollars in its new building in San Jose.
The British manufacturer of sports medicine products Smith & Nephew has started operating a new shared services center in Coyol de Alajuela.
From the shared services center, the areas of human resources, regulatory compliance, payroll, financial and technological services will be attended to, serving the United States and Latin America.
Johnson Controls has started operating a new service center in San José, from where it will provide assistance to its clients in the real estate industry.
From a statement issued by the CINDE:
Costa Rica, December 14, 2017 - Johnson Controls celebrated the opening of its first Center of Excellence in Sales Support, located in San José. The new facilities will allow Johnson Controls to improve the service provided to its clients in the real estate industry, offering consulting in engineering, electrical design, mechanical design, telecommunications design, sustainability services and project management during the design and construction process to a large variety of clients.
The company CSS Corp has started operating a second technological services center east of San José.
From a statement issued by the CINDE:
San José, Costa Rica, December 7, 2017 - With the potential to generate 200 jobs, the second technological services center of the company CSS Corp in Costa Rica has started operations. This new service center is located in Tres Rios, Cantón de la Unión, east of the Greater Metropolitan Area in the TerraCampus business park.The creation of job opportunities in the area resulting from this investment will have an impact on the qualityof life of these two hundred families and will also help to strengthen the income received by institutions such as the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), the Joint Institute of Social Assistance (IMAS) and the National Institute of Learning (INA).
Merck Sharp and Dohme has started operating a new financial services center in Costa Rica, from where it will provide support to the company's operations in the Americas.
From a statement issued by the CINDE:
San José, November 29, 2017. MSD, known as Merck in the United States and Canada, opened its Financial Services Center in Costa Rica today.
It has been announced that the company Concentrix will be expanding its operations in Managua, where it has operated a call center since 2011.
The announcement was made by Vice President Rosario Murillo, who pointed out that the new Concentrix offices will be located in the IBW building, in downtown Managua.
"...Concentrix was established in Nicaragua in 2008 and in 2011 it established its first global contact center in Managua.This company has a presence in 25 countries with more than 70,000 employees who speak more than 40 languages."