Why Costa Rica Is a Fast-Growing IT Outsourcing Hub

Tek Experts -

3 min read

Three Costa Rican IT specialists solving an issue in front of a computer

As companies around the world struggle to fill digital skills gaps, adapt to fast-changing market conditions, and better serve their customers, many are turning to outsourcing as the best source of the skills and expertise they require.  

No longer just seen as a means of lowering operating costs, outsourcing is now a key business strategy for augmenting internal staffing and driving greater insights and innovation. The challenge is finding the right partners in the right locations.

Costa Rica continues to be the premier location for IT outsourcing in Latin America. With IT and communications services making up 49% of national exports in 2019, the country has access to a large, knowledgeable talent pool and is in fact emerging as a key IT outsourcing location in the western hemisphere.

These are the three key driving factors behind this transformation:

1. Remarkable Tech Talent. Optimally Positioned.

Costa Rica invests 6.7% of their GDP back into education. Their more than 60 universities produce 43,000 new graduates every year including more than 7,000 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students. The current workforce has a median age of 33.

The capital of San Jose contains several educational institutions including the Universidad de Costa Rica, which currently ranks in the top 25 LATAM (Latin American) universities.

Costa Rica also ranks second among LATAM nations in the Test of English language proficiency for non-native speakers. This wealth of English-speaking workers in a time zone well aligned with the United States enables Costa Rica to provide an attractive near shore alternative to North American-based operations.

“Costa Rica has been preparing for the future of digital technology work for decades – well ahead of many of its neighbors – building on its stable workforce and nearly fossil-free electricity…. it has already been developing unique and localized efforts to transform its society to be ready for the global growth of knowledge work.”

 Daria Lamb, director of partnerships and ambassador to the future at the Institute for the Future

Costa Rica is well-positioned to avoid future digital skills gaps. In 2018, the World Economic Forum (WEF) surveyed the availability of scientific and engineering expertise. Costa Rica scored high globally and 1st in all of Latin America.

2.  The Country is a Tech Leader. The Capital Is a Digital Skills Hub

Costa Rica is home to more than 450 ICT companies and 12% of these are specialists in industry 4.0 technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Cybersecurity.

The country is exceptionally well equipped in its infrastructure and is a global leader in renewable energy with it supplying 98% of national demand. This has enabled Costa Rica to achieve 99.5% electrical coverage and an 81.2% internet penetration across its population as of January 2021.

San Jose is widely regarded as Latin America’s Silicon Valley, with more than 300 multinational companies thriving under the free trade zone regime. 

3.  Ready for an Even Stronger Digital Services Future

With simultaneous booms in population and GDP, Costa Rica is poised for massive economic growth. GDP advanced 9.9% in 2021 even while recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, and Costa Rica is currently seeing a 1.5% increase in population year-over-yearAt the current rate, the population could double within the next 50 years.

Of the current 5 million Cost Ricans, 1.5 million live in and around the country’s capital and provide the tech sector with ready access to a vast potential talent pool. In 2019, the country’s digital technologies workforce grew by more than 23,000 people.

Costa Rica currently hosts 16 of the top 100 companies in global IT and is the number one exporter of IT services among LATAM countries.

Tek Experts in Costa Rica

Located just 2km from the San Jose city center, Tek Experts’ nearly 800 engineers deliver tech support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

With employees fluent in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, we provide tech services and support, customer success, and tech talent sourcing.

As an established enterprise services vendor in Costa Rica, we have positioned ourselves at the heart of industry 4.0 in Latin America.

From San Jose, Tek Experts is ideally positioned to bridge the digital skills gap between a blossoming knowledge-based workforce in Costa Rica and two of the world’s largest digital economies in the US and Canada.

To better serve an increasingly global customer base, IT outsourcing strategies should be based in multiple locations around the world. Read our latest article outlining 7 important locations for IT services and support so you can better understand how to build your 21st-century IT operation.

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