Published Monday, May 10, 2021

Minnesota- based Nextern, a multinational MedTech manufacturer, announced its opening operations in Costa Rica.

The company will run operations in La Lima Free Zone, in Cartago Province, with new facilities to manufacture medical devices, design, research, and engineering in new product creation.
 
The country branch will be the company's third location abroad in the U.S., such as Vietnam and China.

“This new plant is extremely important to Nextern because, in addition to increasing our manufacturing capacity, it will allow us to leverage local talent to design and improve our medical products," Gustavo Quesada, General Manager of Nextern Costa Rica said. "We will seek highly talented applicants with an entrepreneurial spirit and creative mind, as well as operators who are skilled, dedicated, and careful to follow procedure.”
 
According to the company, they chose Costa Rica for its new operations after evaluating various options throughout the Americas, such as ample linkage possibilities, a solid supply chain, and a location strategic to the North American market.


The company needs to fill job vacancies for senior bilingual professionals in the following positions: process engineering, product development engineering, quality engineering, and buyer planners. The production of medical devices are also needing people for manufacturing operators with at least five years of experience. Applicants who have a U.S. visa will have priority in the hiring process. Interested parties may apply by email to HRCR@nextern.com

With Nextern's arrival in Costa Rica, the country now 90 international companies in the life sciences sector. Exports in this sector have grown an average of 13% year-on-year since 2010, reaching almost $4 billion in 2020. It is estimated that by the end of 2022, exports could reach $5 billion, according to the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency, CINDE.
Nextern is one of several U.S. companies offering jobs in the country in the last couple of months.

Last week, the Indiana-based Samtec, a multinational manufacturing company, announced that it will hire 200 more people in Costa Rica, to satisfy high international demand for the production of its electronic devices.

Other companies such as the Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific announced the expansion of its operations in the country.
 
Also, the Florida-based TradeStation, an online securities and futures brokerage firm and trading technology company, announced it is seeking 100 new hires in Costa Rica.

Los Angeles-based Byte, a company in the life sciences industry dedicated to producing orthodontic medical devices, announced that it will hire 150 more employees in Costa Rica due to the growth of its local operations.

San Francisco-based Gensler, a global design and architecture firm, announced it is hiring more staff for its offices in Costa Rica.
 
Viant, a life sciences company based out of Massachusetts, announced a major expansion at its medical device manufacturing plant located in Heredia Province.

Wisconsin-based company SMC, a global contract manufacturer for the medical, diagnostics and pharmaceutical markets, announced the expansion of its facility in Costa Rica.

According to the Minister of Foreign Trade, the services sector created 81,371 jobs in 2020. However, despite the high numbers announced by the ministry, the Employment Survey shows an unemployment rate of 18.7%, meaning there are more than 458,000 people without registered jobs in the country recorded from January to March 2021.

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What should Costa Ricans do to find a job in U.S. companies with branches in Costa Rica?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com