Equifax Invests US$4.5 Million in Costa Rican Shared Services Center, Bringing Total Headcount to 1,000 Employees in 2017
Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX), a global information solutions company, has announced the opening of its second shared services center in Costa Rica. With the new site the company expects to grow to 1,000 total employees by the end of 2017.
The company, which has been operating in Costa Rica since 1995, is continuing to deliver on its operations expansion plan, which was launched in 2015 with the creation of 400 new jobs. Due to significant growth and the diversification of its services in areas such as finance, procurement and accounting, in addition to strengthening the branches of information technology, information security and business operations, Equifax continues to recognize further investment in its centers, employees and the local Costa Rican economy.
The new two-story building, which is approximately 4,400 square meters, is located in the Metro Free Zone in Barreal de Heredia, and represents a US$ 4.5 million investment for Equifax.
The inauguration was attended by the President of the Republic of Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera, the Minister of Foreign Trade, Alexander Mora, CINDE Managing Director, Jorge Sequeira and senior executives from Equifax.
The President of the Republic of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera, expressed satisfaction about Equifax’s growing presence in Costa Rica and its positive impact on the country’s developing economy. He personally visited the Equifax headquarters in Atlanta, where he met with the CEO and Chief Global Operations Officer in May of 2015 to discuss business expansion and other important topics. “We are very pleased to have collaborated with Equifax on this project in order to generate quality jobs for many Costa Ricans. From our standpoint, we have been championing government policies which attract investment, and last year we were able to meet with company representatives to enable this new process, which has become a reality. Equifax is a strong global company which has had a presence here in Costa Rica for many years, and we are honored by this sign of confidence in our country,” he said.
Andy Bodea, Chief Global Operations Officer for Equifax, stated, “Equifax has had a strong presence in Costa Rica for more than 20 years, and we are proud to expand our investment in the people of Costa Rica, in the community of Heredia and in our local operations. An important factor in deciding to expand our operations here was the high quality, performance, and dedication of our Costa Rican employees. We continue to be impressed by the number of well-qualified applicants for the positions we have available. Thanks to the excellent cooperation with the government and support from CINDE, we have been able to open our second shared services center to support the growth of our operations. We will continue to deepen our commitment to this market and hope to have a long-standing, collaborative relationship with the government in Costa Rica.”
The new shared services center will support Equifax operations in over 15 countries in North America, Latin America and Europe, in areas such as cyber security, finance and accounting, information technologies and customer service.
According to Jairo Quirós, Director of the Shared Services Center at Equifax, the rapid growth of the company has accelerated the hiring of many new employees, which will reach 1,000 total headcount at a much earlier date than expected. “We have been able to expand our service portfolio and generate more senior-level jobs. Also, our internal promotion program, as well as the of recruitment of talent whom are fluent in Spanish, English and French, have allowed us to grow our workforce to over 800 employees, a number that will continue to grow in the coming months,” he said.
