Costa Rica Call Center Blog

Corporations that require bringing foreign executives and technicians to work in Costa Rica will be able to make immigration procedures quickly through the Internet.

Through a pilot program of the Ministry for Competitiveness and the Costa Rica Immigration Office, intends that applications for residence permit for these workers to be processed in 10 days.

The Pilot Project will start on Tuesday with participation of four companies: Intel, T Menos Costa Rica, Ericsson and Surf Factory.

The initiative unveiled yesterday Jorge Woodbridge, Minister of Competitiveness, and Mario Zamora, director of the Immigration Office.

To make the online transactions interested companies need to register and subsequently include the data and documents of workers who they want come to reside here.  Once immigration officials to analyze the roles and approve the residency cards will be sent by courier to the respective companies.

Although the pilot starts with four companies, and there are 58 companies registered to use the system, said Zamora.

The head of Immigration said the unit daily receives about five requests for multinationals to bring in workers from other countries.

Alejandro Rodriguez, a lawyer representing T Menos (banking software company), Ericsson and Surf Factory, said the digital system will allow companies to save time and money on immigration proceedings.

Woodbridge said this is an additional step by the government to “eliminate unnecessary an bureaucratic procedures”.

“For businesses, time is money and this step will improve Costa Rica’s competitiveness,” he added

Source: La Nacion

• Services are provided in French, German, Mandarin, Russian, Italian and Portuguese
• Twelve percent of work is done in languages other than English and Spanish
• Among the services provider are financial services, tech support and customer service

Although English is the primary language with which multinationals operate, the need to provide services in other languages takes strength from such companies.

Increasingly multinational hire staff who speak French, German, Portuguese, Mandarin, Italian and even Russian.

These languages are required to handle calls for customer service, technical support, or financial and administrative tasks for businesses in Brazil, Europe and Asia.

During the Bilingual Job Fair, organized by Cinde at the beginning of the year, six of the 30 participating services firms sought employees with a third language.

Currently, for every 100 transactions conducted by the companies, 12 are made in languages other than English and Spanish.

“Market demand made companies in the country start its services in English, but there are interesting opportunities in other languages” said Gabriela Llobet, director Cinde, is responsible for attracting foreign investment.

Llobet added that in recent months has noticed the interest of corporations to provide services to companies in Brazil from the country.

Western Union, IBM, Emerson and the Shared Services unit of British American Tobacco, consulted by La Nacion, said they did not have trouble finding staff that speaks languages other than Spanish and English.

Good result. The expansion of staff in other languages is a natural happens in most companies after they have established a successful operations in English and want to expand either provide service on their captive operations or outsourcing.

An example is Western Union (money transfers), which arrived to Costa Rica in 1998 and only gave call center services in English and Spanish, but in 2004 brought new business to date and expanded to eight languages.

“Every year, the company makes three rounds of hiring’s with 20 to 30 people fluent in French, German, Portuguese, Mandarin, Italian and Russian, on each round” said Christian Rodriguez, vice president of Operations.

Of the 1110 employees of the company, 250 (23%) serve the process of fraud prevention and support for agents in Europe, Middle East and Africa. They also do finance and accounting.

Confidence. Multinationals such as IBM (services in human resources outsourcing) opted to do since arriving here from their business in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.

“IBM is a globally integrated company, and therefore, we work with clients from different geographies,” noted Andrea Melendez, manager of Human Resources at the company. At IBM 80 out of 800 workers speak Portuguese and French.

Emerson Process Management also decided to give its engineering services in automation processes in English and Portuguese, following its opening in 2008.

Melissa Bonilla, manager of Human Resources Emerson, said it made “to provide added value to customers. About 10% of our staff speak Portuguese and 30% are in classes”.

Concentrix arrived in Costa Rica to take advantage of the multilingual labor pool. From its center in San Jose provides technical support in Spanish and French and plans to expand to German, Italian, Portuguese and Russian in the near future. “Costa Rica has built over many years a strong capacity to train people in different languages. The country hosts 9 French language schools, 6 in German, 5 in Portuguese, 7 in Italian. In addition to that about 10% of the workforce in those languages are nationals of those countries that reside in Costa Rica”, stated Manfred Kissling, country manager at Concentrix.

Source: La Nacion

Zagada Institute comprehensive and independent analysis on the region’s seven markets indicates:

• Central America domestic and internationally focused agents positions has doubled from 21,000 in 2006 to to 42,000 in 2008, to exceed 80,000 by 2010
• Centers have grown from 164 to 274 between 2006 to 2008
• Costa Rica has now bypassed Panama to become the number one segment from a jobs and total end-to-end service perspective.
• Guatemala has become the number one growth market showing a 450% improvement over the last 24 months
• Over 600,000 students are now attending the regions 206 universities and institutions with over 125,000 graduating each year.
• Avaya dominates the region and with the purchase of Nortel’s Enterprise unit has positioned itself into monopoly-like status

An estimated 96% of existing agents and BPO workers are bilingual and continue to be a critical high-end niche in providing the customer care and back office needs of U.S. companies. The ever-expanding U.S. Hispanic American market is on track to exceed 50 million with over US$1 trillion in spending power by 2012 and U.S. customers are reporting relatively high levels of satisfaction. These twin factors are pushing demand for the region.

“Despite the Nearshore perception of unrest due to the political challenges in Honduras, at its core the region is pushing all the right buttons with respective states deepening their bilingual output, a healthy mix of local and international vendor firms are growing profits by serving clients well, and demand is expanding from U.S. buy-side companies,” said Philip Peters, CEO of Zagada Markets.

The Central America Nearshore market, however, also faces strategic challenges as the market expands. These include the need to further vigorously expand its bilingual-ready population to meet timely U.S. corporate buy-side demand, the importance of expanding physical contact center and BPO office capacity, and the need to strengthening its middle management core as the region’s vendors grow their service delivery complexity.

Source: Zagada Institute

“Our experience in the country has been positive in the quality of service”

Amazon, a leader in Internet sales, expects to expand its operations to Costa Rica at the end of the year hiring 100 more people for customer service.

Patty Smith, Director of Corporate Communications for the company, confirmed the information from the firm’s headquarters in Washington State, United States.

According to Smith, the reason to expand its operations in Costa Rica is due to the good performance of its first customer center in Latin America, which operates in the free zone UltraLAG in Heredia.

“We will grow as our requirements demand, and we will do so at a pace that allows us to ensure that quality standards remain a positive experience for the customer. Therefore, at this time, Amazon Costa Rica has approximately 200 employees and expect to have 100 by the end of 2009″ confirmed Smith in an email.

“Our experience has been very positive, especially as regards the quality of service. Amazon aims to be the largest company focused on customer care, and Costa Rica has proven to have quality people who can provide the proper customer service” added the spokeswoman.

The good news of the new 100 does not come alone. Smith added the company plans to hire in its global operations, temporary jobs for the holiday season this year.

“For the dates of holidays between October and December, we will be offering temporary opportunities for those who want to earn extra money for Christmas or the end of the school year (…) Amazon is one of the few companies that offer this option, where we give full training for a period of two to three months” said the executive.

Even Smith did not rule out that the company considers full time employment to those who “have shown a high performance for that period and would like to remain in the company.”

Amazon began operations here last October and according to Smith, the home has a capacity to house 700 employees.

Smith explained that in terms of attracting investment, Costa Rica offers a high level of education and Costa Ricans have a “natural inclination” towards a culture of service.

“Part of the feature of Amazon is to be open to new concepts and ideas, especially if these benefits directly to the customer. If the headquarters in Costa Rica continues to experience high testing to the client, then there will be more opportunities for growth as far as the market allows” she said.

Source: La Nacion

Five companies need to hire 600 people who have a high level of English and immediate availability.

They are Stream, AEGIS, Amadeus, ICT Group and ACE. These companies operate in Heredia and are focused on outsourcing of financial, technical support, billing, human resources and telemarketing, among other services.

According to Gabriela Llobet, director CINDE (the national agency for attracting foreign investment), the new jobs are available because of the good times the services sector in Costa Rica is experiencing.

“It is definitely very good news for the country that in times of crisis there are opportunities for growth for these companies (both organic and new business) because of the credibility and competitiveness of the country and because the companies located here are highly productive and have a skilled workforce” said.

According to CINDE, more than 20 companies of this type are installed in the country.
Labor supply. Lisbeth Thomas of Stream, reported that they need 350 people because of expansion of its services: 150 for one in English and another 200 for a bilingual (English-Spanish).

The company was established in the country three years ago and has a payroll of 1,000 people at its office located in the Americas FTZ, in Heredia. Some of the benefits offered to those interested in joining Stream are subsidies on food and transportation.

Adriana Porras from ICT Group, said the company, which began operations here in 2006 with 10 people – looking for between 150 and 200 people to work in the area of customer service. Porras said that ICT Group provides stability, good wages and opportunities for internal growth.

Felipe Cardona from AEGIS, said the multinational, which in 2008 bought People Support-need about 20 people working in the area of customer service. This group will join the more than 100 people the company hired in April (90) and May (20) and working in Ultra Park in Heredia. The company specializes in outsourcing of sales and collections.

Amadeus – which provides services to travel agencies, hotels, rent-a-cars and cruises, among others, seeks to four people working in the technical part. Recently, the company hired 16 for the service.

John Cotter said that Amadeus offers competitive salaries, annual bonus according to performance, health insurance, international and even a special room for recreation. Currently has more than 30 employees in Oficentro Madonna in Pavas since its installation in 1998.

ACE is looking for people to do collections in United States. Ricardo Esquivel, did not specify the number of people involved, but said that every month “looking for people with a very high level in English”.

Source: La Nacion

• Company provides HR services to 13 countries in Latin America

Peter Lynt, vice president for integrated operations of IBM, said the company will hire 1,200 additional employees over the next two years.

Lynt said graduates hired professionals, but also give opportunity to young people about to conclude his career in Management, Finance, Human Resources, Marketing, Engineering, Economics and Accounting.

IBM came to the country in 2004 and provides outsourcing for companies from 13 countries in Latin America the US and Canada.

From its headquarters in Global Park in Heredia, the company performs payroll, expatriate support, online learning, selection and recruitment, and support for retired people.
These efforts are conducted in four languages (Spanish, Portuguese, English and French) to 325,000 employees in America.

Lynt stressed multilingual skills of Costa Ricans, but urged the Government to increase investment in English from primary and encourage more young people to study engineering and economics.

Source: Nacion.com

• Call Center expected to reach 1,900 people
• Economic crisis will serve to strengthen local operation
• Company looks to offer a greater range of services to the US and Spain

After 16 months of operation, the Teletech call center consolidates its operations in the country with a payroll of 1,200 employees and expects to increase by 700 new positions.

Martin Sucari, vice president of the corporation in Latin America said “the expected growth will be quick”.

But he warned that new hires depend on increased demand for the company and the incentives.

Teletech is a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) that addresses that provides Customer Service for customers in the Unites States and Spain.

Sucari, said the company will “leverage” on the economic crisis to grow the services it provides from its facilities at Zona Franca del Este.

“We want to seize the moment because companies are getting squeezed by the crisis. So they are seeking more efficiency and better quality at a given cost”, explained the executive.

The call center is also analyzing to provide new services of greater value added to the country.

“We think we could provide sales, billing, accounting and technical support services. We could also respond to customers via chat and email” said Sucari.

SERVICES IN 29 LANGUAGES

• Teletech was founded in 1982 and currently operates in 17 countries in the world.
• The company provides Customer Service, Accounting, and Recruitment in 29 languages
• Currently the company employs more than 50,000 people on 89 centers around the globe
• In Latin America the company has operations in Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico
  

Source: La Nacion

Just a few time zones away, managing an outsourcer in Costa Rica can be relatively easy

By Amy Barrett

Brian Stafford wanted to tap global talent but wasn’t sure how. Stafford, president and chief executive of ChemSW, a Fairfield (Calif.) software developer, liked the idea of using offshore programmers in part because his work needs ebbed and flowed, making it difficult to hire staff. He talked to outsourcing firms in India and Ukraine, but, worried about the time differences and sometimes hard-to-understand accents, never signed a deal. In summer 2008, however, Stafford found a great outsourcing partner for his 22-person, $4 million company. “Costa Rica wasn’t even on our radar,” says Stafford. “But they’ve been very easy to work with, and this allows us to get products to market much quicker.”

Stafford is hardly alone in embracing Latin America as a service outsourcing hub. According to Stamford (Conn.) technology research firm Gartner, 6 of the top 30 countries for services outsourcing are located there, including Costa Rica, Argentina, and Brazil. Much of the appeal, says Frances Karamouzis, a research vice-president at Gartner, is “a high comfort level [there] with Western business practices.”

Stafford discovered Costa Rica with help from Steve Mezak, a consultant with Redwood City (Calif.)-based Accelerance, after hearing him speak at a conference. At Mezak’s request, Stafford detailed his top priorites for an outsourcer: highly skilled workers, a location not more than two hours’ time difference from his in-house developers in Ithaca, N.Y., and a safe and pleasant locale. For a $15,000 fee, Mezak matched those criteria against prescreened vendors and recommended Isthmus, a 150-person company in Costa Rica that works exclusively with small and midsize companies. While India would have been cheaper—Mezak says software development in India costs about $25 an hour per person, vs. $35 to $40 per hour in Costa Rica—Isthmus’ price still beats the U.S., where an outside programmer would run at least $60 an hour.

Having successfully completed a pilot project, Stafford has kept his five-person team at Isthmus almost continuously busy. He doesn’t want to stop and restart work, because Isthmus might have to assign a new team that would need to get up to speed. Stafford is careful to give Isthmus discrete projects rather than responsibility for the core code at the heart of his company. And he makes sure his staff knows exactly how the Isthmus team writes code, so that if the relationship ends he can still manage those projects.

Stafford says David Hessler, his software chief—and the one who has to visit any software partners—appreciates Costa Rica’s climate and beaches. “We don’t go on fancy retreats or trips,” says Stafford. “So in a way, this is a perk. And that doesn’t hurt.”

Source: BusinessWeek

Multinational Corporations that were looking to hire 3,500 people found good candidates to fill those vacancies at the fifth bilingual job fair held this weekend.

Multinationals looking for bilingual skills in engineering, business services, finance, media and graphic design and customer service.

“We saw very good level of English. People have improved their fluency. It really makes us happy. Definitely fill all available places” said Marisol Fernández, manager of Human Resources of the shipping company APL.

Andrea Rye, CINDE Communication Manager, reported that 8,750 people came in search of a job, the highest figure so far.

In the country there are 81 multinationals that provide services to financial processes, human resources, customer care and technical support for other companies (outsourcing) and all its regional headquarters (captive operations).

CINDE estimates the employed labor pool at these companies to be 24,000 people.

Permalink: http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2009/febrero/24/economia1884809.html

Hewlett Packard has as its goal for 2009 to reach a payroll of 8,000 employees in the country.

The company now has nearly 7,000 workers, said Maria Luisa Gonzalez, human resources manager of HP.

Gonzalez reported that although HP is expected to hire 250 recruits per month until December, not all of them will be to create new spaces.

“That figure (250 per month) does include new hires, but also organic growth and replacement of people who are going” said the manager.

Gonzalez said that the company defines organic growth as an opportunity to give their own workers to change job or promotion within the company.

“Despite the economic crisis affecting the world, HP has maintained a moderately optimistic about the challenges. At no time was thought to lay off employees, we continue with a recruitment process here” she added.

HP provides Customer Service from its Global Financial Services Forum in Building I, Santa Ana, and in the zone Ultrapark in Heredia. The multinational company arrived in 2003 and began its work with 185 people.

“We are positive that this year will include new professional workers. In the financial area will take a major, “said Gonzalez.

Source: La Nacion