Local cargo company dismisses 65 employees

Costa Rican company Transportes Internationales GASH dismissed 65 workers in early March “due to a recent drop in cargo volumes,” general manager Luis Guillermo Solís Fernández announced in a news release this week.

“Cargo volumes have severely declined in the last three months, therefore the company was forced to take the decision to reduce our staff,” the statement said.

The general manager said the firm hoped to regain cargo handling levels in the near future “in order to reinstate the dismissed posts and to support the country’s stability and economic growth.”

GASH has been in the cargo transport market for over 60 years and currently owns a fleet of 300 semi trailers, according to the company’s website.

The company offers transport services throughout Central America and currently has offices in San José and also at Moín and Caldera ports on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. It also owns a terminal in Nicaragua.

The layoffs at GASH add to recent announcements from companies closing shops or moving operations abroad, including Wendy’s, Burger King, Bagelmen’s, Incesa Standard and most recently Alimentos Jack’s.

Several cited high production costs in Costa Rica, increasing public utility rates and high taxes as reasons for leaving.