COSTA RICA NEWS – The young in Costa Rica take advantage of above average paid work at call centres to finance their studies or pay off debts, while seeking new horizons.
This and other factors causes call centres to have constant staff turnover, as they see young men and women aged between 29 and 35, come and go daily.
For the companies, these employees with proficiency in English are the cheap labour that makes it feasible for them to develop call centre operations in the country.
According to the Coalición Costarricense de Iniciativas de Desarrollo (CINDE) – Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives, the number of bilingual employees in call centres went from 1.000 in 2000 to some 46.000 in 2013.
Many of the companies operating call centres in the country are in the area of technology, as such they require a constant supply of qualified personnel.
For many, working the call centre is not a career choice or devoting their life to this. More than anything, the call centre is used by many to finance studies and the move on. For others, it is a way to earn a better salary to pay off their debts, while looking for permanent work.
For many young foreigners, with native English skills, they can earn US$1.200 or more monthly working at a call centre.
The rotation of personnel is a growing problem for call centre operators. Roy Mena, manager of corporate relations at Sykes, says that the hardest problem has been the rapid growth in the sector and the training of people who will soon quit.
Mena explains that the high turnover is related to the work environment that includes inflexible work schedules, limited opportunities for advancement and monotonous work.
Call centres have become the largest employers in the private sector. International companies like Sykes, Amazon, HP, Claro, Convergys and Aegis operate call centre operations in Costa Rica.
Source: With files from Ahora.cr
