To begin, Costa Rica enjoys a 95% literacy rate. In the 1950′s Costa Rica stopped spending money on it’s military and began spending more on education. The country now boasts some of the most educated people in Latin America. In college, modern web technologies such as PHP, Javascript, MySQL, Unix, IIS, Apache, MS SQL, and .net are as common as they are in the United States. In fact, software licenses for products from companies like Sun, Microsoft, and Adobe for foreign workers can also be much cheaper.
Second, there is an increasingly large labor pool of people willing to work for a fraction of equivalent US wages. Costs for equivalent labor in the US are usually less than 50%. Also, continuing education and technical certification is proportionally less expensive. Costs will be lowered because of the massively lower taxes in relation to social security, unemployment insurance, and payroll matching that exists only in the United States. This will also reduce the burden on human resources.
Third, Costa Rica is on Central Time which puts it at the center of working hours of US counterparts. No more midnight phone calls to India. This is great not only for programming support, but also for emergency repair work that needs to be handled during business hours. For flights too and from Costa Rica, staying in a close time zone also reduces jet lag.
Next, In Costa Rica, there are a lot few opportunities, unlike in America where there the level of open technical jobs vastly exceeds that of Costa Rica. This makes it more likely that your employees will form a dependence on your company, and allow you to hold on to them as long as needed. Most of the jobs and population is centered in San Jose reducing the concern for job flight.
Fifth and finally, Costa Rica is a 3 hour flight from Miami and Houston. Often times you can meet your team quicker in Costa Rica than across the United States. Lodging is inexpensive, and executive suites are available throughout Costa Rica. In fact, traveling to Costa Rica is often not only faster, but also less expensive than traveling to another state. Most of these locations can seem like a seamless transition because they have full access to high-speed Internet and cellular services.
For all of these reasons, it’s apparent why Costa Rica should be at the top of your list when looking to outsource technical labor. Not to mention, it’s a fantastic place to visit.