12 years ago I managed a division of a huge internet call center here.
We employed at any time around 200 Ticos and Ticas who spoke English, and the starting pay was $1,000 a month and workers there who graduated to junior management positions could take home $1,500 to $2,000, monster paychecks for CR, keep in mind also this was 2007-2009.
CR harassed and fleeced the company unmercifully, and inspectors showed up every month issuing threats and demanding payoffs.
Finally the company, based in Great Britain, had enough and moved operations to Eastern Europe, The Czech Republic, who welcomed them with open arms and all kinds of benefits.
Costa Rica lost 200 well paying jobs and a fat tax base, they since have expanded in Europe to almost 400 employees, who would be in CR now, all earning minimum starting pay of a g note a month. Top earners now earn $2500 to $3000. That's G*d's paycheck to a Tico.
A friend of mine had a sewing company here, employed about a dozen ticas, they were making $800 a month, no English, uneducated and unskilled, $800 a month is great for unskilled uneducated labor here.
Same deal, abuse, fleecing and harassment. He moved his operation to Nicaragua, and Nicaragua treats him and his small company like gold.
I live in an affluent suburb of Escazu, one retired Tico neighbor with a gorgeous home, one of if not the biggest most gorgeous homes in the hood, I asked was he a retired doctor? Lawyer? Business owner? Engineer? Nope, retired government employee, lol.
They get monster pensions, equal to many USA government employee fat retirement plans, in a country where the average pay is under 10k a year...
There's problems brewing here...