The northwestern province of Guanacaste, where a tourism boom has attracted massive investment to beaches, has the second worst labor market in the country, according to a survey released Tuesday by the human resource consultant company Manpower, in which employers in that region reported the worst employment expectations of any region in Costa Rica with the exception of the Caribbean province of Limón.
In the survey, 620 employers nationwide were asked how they thought the labor market in their region would fare during the next three-month period compared to the current one. Heredia, north of San José, was the province with the most optimistic response.
The construction and manufacturing industries predicted the most labor growth for next quarter, while the agricultural and mining sectors predicted the worst.
This is the fourth time the consulting group, which operates throughout the world, conducted this survey in Costa Rica, and it showed the least optimistic response so far.
“Though employment expectations in Costa Rica remain encouraging and we’ve seen a constant growth in employment activity during the last three quarters, the decrease in the employment prospects could mean job growth will slow in the April-to-June quarter,” said Eric Quesada, Manpower’s Central American regional manager.
