Bank Of America Expands In Costa Rica While Firing People In The USA

Even though “Bank of America has said it’s cutting 42,500 jobs,” their “offshore operations have grown sharply in the past two years, exceeding 14,000 employees in India, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the Philippines and Costa Rica.”

The Bank of America’s credit card and mortgage collection department – which was acquired from Countrywide Financial – is located in Costa Rica and will be hiring another 200 staff in addition to the 600 it already has. The majority of the staff in Costa Rica (70%) are 18-25 years old…

In Costa Rica, these jobs pay between US$1,100 – $1,500 per month depending on their English language skills and experience however, purely from a financial standpoint that’s still a lot more attractive for a US company trying to cut costs if the alternative is to hire someone in the USA.

Knowing the irony of life, no doubt at some stage, some young worker in Costa Rica will be calling to collect overdue payments from a fired employee of Bank Of America who now owes money because they’re doing the job that they used to have for five times the salary of the worker in Costa Rica.

So while one young Costa Rican worker is trying hard to create a good life for himself and his family, the other ex-Bank Of America employee in the USA is desperately trying to salvage what’s left of his professional career.

“Ron Hira, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, said offshoring will continue growing unless the Obama administration or Congress takes action. Companies looking to cut costs and boost profits, for example, can pay an accountant in India $5,000 a year versus $60,000 a year in the U.S., he said.”

On another corporate topic, the medical device company Baxter which has 1,450 employees in Costa Rica announced this week that they will be expanding their operations because they are moving all of their Latin American financial and accounting operations to Costa Rica.

The President of Baxter for Latin America Carlos Alonso said that: “For Baxter, Costa Rica is very important because of the quality of the workforce, it’s stability and geographic and cultural closeness to the United States.”

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Written by Scott Oliver, author of 1. Costa Rica Real Estate Scams & How To Avoid Them, 2. How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa, 3. Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore and the Director of Costa Rica Living & Retirement – Secrets To Happiness, a new DVD which reveals all with 14 in depth interviews…

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.