www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Since it is the largest retailer in the world, apparently one hell of a lot of people do

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

They might advertise, but its not required. Almost nobody on the floor at either store has a high school diploma.

IMHO... if you are Costa Rican, its probably easier to get a job in CR, than for an American to get a job in the US today. You may earn 10x less, but the jobs are there.

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

A lot of employers will only keep an employee in CR for just under 3 months, after 3 months the employee acquires rights for vacation pay and the Caja (medical insurance). I know a restaurant owner with a regular floor staff of about 6, in 2 years of operation I said to him once "you've had 200 waiters go through here in 2 years", he said I was just a little high in the number.

IMHO, you are just wrong. You are right about earning 10x less, for sure. But the real unemployment rate in Costa Rica is far beyond anything even Detroit can conceive. Take a walk through Los Guidos in Desamparados and count the number of idlers you can see just in the streets in a half hour, then compare that to how many help wanted signs you see anywhere in a day. I bet the former outnumber the latter by a hefty ratio. There are a number of jobs in downtown SJ, and probably in Escazu too, but the people who live close enough and can pay babysitters 8 hours a day or have no Ch*ldren to take care of are few. Those who live in the poorer areas add 2 hours a day commute, minimum. So add bus fare plus 2 more hours paying the babysitter. We all know how rare a childless woman is here, and that fathers are little more than sperm donors. The help wanted signs I see are mostly in fast food joints or clothing stores. You think they want to hire the gnarled old guy who has a dozen tomatoes for sale on the sidewalk in front of Banco National? Not likely. There is a reason there are so many people selling lottery tickets, disposable razors, Chiclets and rabbit ears for TVs.

As far as no jobs in the USA, if you apply the same standards to Gringos and Gringas, there are still fast food jobs for minimum wage. There are lawn mowing jobs for sub minimum wage too, early morning newspaper delivery and migrant farm work as well. Americans can solve the illegal immigration problem quite easily by just working for as little as any illegal immigrant will. Industry can return to the country too, if we just lower wages enough to be competitive with the Chinese. Of course, they may have to give up their home and car and nice clothes, but they can do it. At some point it makes better economic sense to beg or become a streetwalker or drug dealer. Pride may overrule such economic sense, of course. I suppose there must have been some mortgage brokers who were too proud to sell bad loans to people who couldn't afford them, and said to hell with the fat commissions and took jobs as Walmart greeters instead. I actually heard of one bank executive who shared his multi-million dollar bonus with all the people working under him. Pride and virtue can overrule economic self interest. When the pct. gets above about 1, I hope somebody will tell me.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

IMHO, BILKO IS 99.99% RIGHT, and YES, CHI, you are just wrong!.

The only thing I disagree with Bilco on is what people mowing lawns make. I was in the nursery/landscape business in the states and only a very small hand full of unscrouplous small owners paid their "illegal" employes less than minmun wage. In the part of the country where I lived, most lawn service business were owned by Mexicans and were family owned and operated so all were sharing in the profit. And at $35-$50 for a 1 hour job for 2 people, even with the operating cost, that ain't minimum wage!!!! Not a Doctor's fee, but NOT sub minimum!!!!!!!!!

Yes, if you read the want adds here, there are a lot of jobs, but as Bilko said, they are the very lowest paying jobs.10 hour days (plus commuting time), 6 days a week, for c175000 per month minus c10000+ for bus, minus c120000 for babysetter (even sisters, cousins, mothers expect to be paid for babysetting), and there is c45000 left as compensation for standing on your feet for 240 hours--HELL NO! NOT MANY WILL DO IT, and you wouldn't either!!!! Actually the ones coming out ahead are the babysetters, ugh! well putting up with 2-3 K*ds all day, maybe not!!

That is the reason most of the chicas you see working in the tiendas are VERY YOUNG chicas without an education and no K*ds (YET)!!!

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

That's what being old does to you. I was remembering back to when I mowed lawns myself (not for a living, my parents supplied that).

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis