More companies close doors in Costa Rica

Faucet distributor Helvex became one of the latest companies to downsize in Costa Rica after it closed its plant in southeastern San José last week, leaving 20 employees out of work.

Economic fears in Costa Rica are palpable now as the number of companies announcing layoffs continues to rise, including such household-names as the publisher Grupo Nación and Domino´s Pizza.

Sábila Industrial S.A., the owner of a plant located in Liberia in the northwestern Guanacaste province, where aloe was processed for medicinal and cosmetic products, shut its doors late in January, leaving about 160 employees out of work.

Annie Rivas, a security guard at Sábila, said the company had given letters to all of its employees on Jan. 28, one day before closing, informing them the plant was going bankrupt. “The next day they were gone,” Rivas said. “The majority of the employees here were single mothers.”

Judicial Branch spokeswoman Andrea Marín confirmed  on Tuesday that some former workers at Sábila Industrial have recently filed lawsuits against the company at the Labor Court.