by Rod Hughes

The business demand in Costa Rica for specialized employees is growning far faster than the schools can turn them out, complains the daily newspaper, La Nacion. Financial whizzes, accountants, trained sales persons, customer service personnel—firms needing these especially are going begging.

This is the conclusion of the international Manpower company came to after a survey of Costa Rican businesses and talking with 650 human resources and general managers. Some 93% of them say they have acute difficulties filling vacancies in these five categories.

But these are not the only scarcities: plumbers, carpenters, machinery operators, cooks, electrcians and machine repair and maintenance personel are also hard to find. Shirley Saborio, executive secretary of the Union of Private Business Chambers and Associations, blames the universities and the government Training Institute (INA) for not preparing students in fields coordinated with labor demand.

Manpower’s manager Eric Quesada says they found an over abundance of managers and lawyers coming out of schools when the country really needs good electricians. Ulises Cordero, an electrician with 30 years’ experience, confirms this finding. “Sometimes I look for a couple of kids to help me and wind up having to turn down jobs,” he said ruefully.

According to the National Higher Education Council, last year universities both public and private graduated 3,329 in business administration and 1,069 lawyers. Meanwhile, at a time when building is exploding on the Pacific coast, only 1,651 electricians and 606 industrial mechanics left the classrooms.

According to Manpower, bilinguality brings the highest salaries, even in accounting, underscoring once more the drastic need for English-language training in this country.