Bored of Your Job in Costa Rica? Be Happy You Have One!

Though the Costa Rica job market may appear to be strong — high levels of education and English fluency have attracted many international companies and nearshore outsourcing opportunities — the reality is that many Costa Ricans are either unemployed or underpaid. Even worse, many of the struggling workers are young, typically under 25, who have recently graduated from long and arduous 5 or 6-year degrees.

A recent study shows that 460,000 Costa Ricans — 24 percent of the country’s work force — are either unemployed, underemployed, underpaid, or a combination of these factors. About 214,000 of the workers work less than 8 hours daily or 47 hours weekly (Costa Rica’s full-time max); the remaining 246,000 workers are given full-time hours, but make less than the federal minimum wage. Some of these workers fall into a low pay, few hours combination category and are, therefore, unable to make ends meet at all.

Unfortunately, workers performing under unfair conditions have little recourse - they need whatever money they can make to support their family, and therefore cannot or will not quit their jobs. Most workers in this category are reported to have little education, working in construction, agriculture, gardening, and street vendor positions. A day’s salary can be as little as ¢3,500 for 5-hours work, amounting to less than ¢100,000 monthly, or less than $165 each month. “Sometimes I can’t even get ¢27,000 together for a weeks’ work. With that amount, I have to pay water and electricity, and I cant afford clothing or shoes,” Eduardo Ortega, an agricultural laborer, said.

In addition to underpaid workers, many of Costa Rica’s educated young people have joined the ranks of the unemployed. Costa Rica’s unemployment rate currently hovers around 4.6 percent, but for workers under 25, that number climbs to a staggering 13.8 percent. The Ministry of Labor attributes this percentage to the large number of educated, capable recent graduates vying for very few high-level jobs. With their education levels, they are overqualified for most jobs and, therefore, unemployable to many Costa Rica companies. The Ministry of Labor estimates that 18,681 young men and 22,058 young women are currently in this situation.

The average Costa Rican worker is male, works in an urban area, and is between the ages of 25 and 59. He finished middle school, and now works in commerce, industry, or agriculture in a low-level job. It is very possible that he earns less than he is owed. The average unemployed Costa Rican is female, lives in an urban area, and is aged 12 to 24. She has a low level of education; it is likely that she never finished high school. She’s looking for her first job in a low-level, low-paying position.

Reacting to the nation’s growing need for quality employment, Costa Rican employers regularly host job fairs. Last weekend, a Guanacaste job fair hosted 60 companies from the fields of agroindustry, tourism, and construction - the companies were looking to fill approximately 3,000 positions. Similarly, the North American-Costa Rican Cultural Center is hosting a job fair on Saturday, October 11, for English-Spanish bilingual workers. Fifteen companies will be present, including Skype, Phillip Morris, Hewlett Packard, Tele Tech, Intel, Manpower, Procter & Gamble, BATCA, HSBC, and more. At this fair, the employers will be looking for qualified people to fill 2,000 jobs in Costa Rica.

This post's rating:

Related Stories

Filed under: Business on October 7th, 2008