For the first quarter of 2020, 7% of the Costa Rica companies consulted plan to reduce their payrolls, and only 10% plan to increase them, indicates the Encuesta de Expectativas de Empleo (Survey of Employment Expectations) report by ManpowerGroup.
Employers report slow growth in their hiring plans for the first quarter of 2020. According to Manpower, 10% of companies are contemplating an increase in their workforce, 7% anticipate a decrease and 82% remain unchanged.
The report explains that “… Employers in three of the six regions expect to increase hiring levels during the next quarter. The strongest hiring pace is forecast in Heredia, where the Net Employment Trend stands at +10%. On the other hand, Trends of +2% and +1% are reported in San José and Cartago, respectively. While employers expect to reduce their workforces in Alajuela and Puntarenas & Limón, with Trends of -3%, and in Guanacaste, where the trend is -9%.
An increase in workforces is anticipated in four of the six sectors over the next three months. The strongest labor market is forecast by the employers of Agriculture, Fishing, Mining & Extraction, who report a Net Employment Trend of +6%. On the other hand, limited hiring plans are expected in Manufacturing and Commerce, with Trends of +3% and +2%, respectively, while the Trend for Services is +1%. However, employers expect to reduce their workforce in Construction, reporting a Trend of -6%, and in Communications & Transportation, where the Trend is at -3%.
Medium-sized companies expect to increase their workforce over the next three months, reporting a Net Employment Trend of +6%, while large companies report a 0% Trend. However, Micro and Small Business employers expect to reduce their workforce, reporting -1% and -3% Trends, respectively.”
The survey was conducted with a representative sample of 620 companies in Costa Rica. All participants were asked the same question, “Do you anticipate labor movements in your organization for the next quarter (January – March), compared to the current quarter (October – December)?”.
See full report (in Spanish).
