No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArchiveGrupo Nación, Merck downsizing workforces in Costa Rica

Grupo Nación, Merck downsizing workforces in Costa Rica

Two prominent companies in Costa Rica, publisher Grupo Nación and pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme, announced department cutbacks and layoffs this week.

The announcements came amid reports this week that as many as 2.4 million Latin Americans could lose their jobs this year in the wake of the global economic downturn, ending a five-year rally of declining unemployment, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said Tuesday.

Merck Sharp & Dohme will close its packaging plant in the western San José district of Pavas at the end of 2009, making about 104 employees expendable, according to company spokeswoman Irene Arguedas. However, Arguedas stressed that the scheduled closure is “an unfortunate coincidence,” not a consequence of the global finaincial crisis.

Grupo Nación, which publishes the newspapers La Nación, Al Día, La Teja and Vuelta en U, announced that the restructuring was the result of reduction in advertising. The publisher will lay off 25 people, cut budgets in all areas of production by 15 percent, and eliminate Vuelta en U´s print product, turning it into an online-only newspaper, management said in Thursday´s La Nación.

Another sign of recession, the construction sector has reported 15,000 job losses, according to TV channel 7.

“The employment crisis has arrived in the region,” ILO´s regional director for Latin America Jean Maninat said in Lima, Peru. “After five consecutive years of unemployment, until 2008, the rate will go back up in 2009.”

Trending Now

Costa Rica Faces Calls to Strengthen Shark Protection Enforcement

Costa Rica faces growing pressure from environmental experts and lawyers to tighten enforcement of laws protecting endangered sharks. Recent court rulings have highlighted gaps...

Costa Rica Presidential Candidate Fernández Reports Spy Device

Laura Fernández, the presidential candidate for the Pueblo Soberano party, revealed on Tuesday that she discovered a concealed microphone in her personal office, raising...

Costa Rica President Narrows Legal Abortion to Life-Saving Cases

President Rodrigo Chaves has repealed Costa Rica's therapeutic abortion protocol, a move that fulfills a long-standing promise and tightens rules around the procedure. The...

Marriott Expands in Costa Rica with Adventure-Focused Hotel

Marriott is set to grow its footprint in Costa Rica by opening a new hotel in the Central Pacific area next year. The Santa...

Costa Rica Monitors Caribbean Tropical Wave with 70% Storm Chance

Those who live along the Caribbean coast know all too well how quickly weather can turn in October. Right now, the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional...

Trump Says He Will End US Aid to Colombia as Tensions Spike

United States President Donald Trump on Sunday accused his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, of tolerating drug production and announced he would end “large-scale payments...
Avatar
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica