Customer Service and
Back-Office Outsourcing
in Costa Rica
Kore BPO builds dedicated customer service and back-office teams based in San Jose, Costa Rica, for US companies, with candidate resumes delivered in 2–5 business days and $0 upfront fees to start.
Customer service outsourcing in Costa Rica puts bilingual, US-timezone-aligned agents on your support queue without the 12-hour overlap gap you get from offshore markets like the Philippines or India. Kore BPO builds dedicated customer service and back-office teams based in San Jose, Costa Rica, for US companies, with candidate resumes delivered in 2 to 5 business days and $0 upfront fees to start.
Last updated: October 29, 2026 · Reviewed by Brian Hunt, CEO & Founder, Kore BPO
It Starts With Something Breaking, Not With Reading About Costa Rica
Companies rarely go looking for a Costa Rica team because they read about Costa Rica. They go looking because their current setup is breaking in a specific, annoying way. Support tickets pile up overnight because the offshore team logs off at 6 a.m. Eastern. A back-office process that used to take a day now takes three because the person doing it is in a time zone that barely overlaps with anyone on the US side. Leadership is being asked to cut costs without cutting quality, and the two don't usually go together.
That's the actual problem nearshore solves. Not "lower cost" in the abstract. Lower cost and someone who's awake and fluent when your customers are.
Kore BPO is a US-owned staffing and BPO company headquartered in Dallas, with operating teams in San Jose, Costa Rica, and Hyderabad, India. For companies that need Latin American time-zone coverage and native-or-near-native English and Spanish, Costa Rica is where we build. We've placed 6,236+ hires for 257+ clients across offshore and nearshore programs, and the Costa Rica side of that work is specifically customer service and administrative back-office support. We're not a call center reseller bundling in seats you don't need. We build a team that's yours, staffed from a country that happens to run on roughly the same clock you do.
Why US Companies Are Moving Customer Support to Costa Rica Instead of the Philippines or India
Here's the math most companies skip. A support agent in Manila works a shift that lines up with the Philippines' business day, not yours. To get US daytime coverage, someone there has to work through their own night. That turnover cost is real, even if it never shows up as a line item.
Costa Rica doesn't observe daylight saving time and sits in the Central Time zone band year-round, which means a Costa Rica-based team overlaps with US business hours for most or all of a standard shift, without the graveyard-shift staffing churn that offshore markets deal with constantly.
CINDE's nearshoring assessment puts the country's BPO, shared services, and ITES sector at roughly $2.4 billion in export revenue, with 280+ active companies now operating inside Costa Rica's free trade zones and a workforce of about 95,000 people in the sector, including roughly 38,000 export-facing contact center agents. That's not a market that's emerging. It's one that's been doing this long enough to have a deep, trained labor pool.
Companies sometimes assume "nearshore" just means "closer to Mexico." It doesn't automatically mean better English, better infrastructure, or better retention. Costa Rica specifically earns that reputation. CINDE's workforce data shows 82% of export-facing BPO workers in Costa Rica rate their own English proficiency as "professional working" or above, and the country ranks 44th of 135 nations on the 2025 Global Talent Competitiveness Index, ahead of Colombia (69th) and Mexico (70th). That gap is part of why large BPO operators built operations there decades ago. We're building the same kind of team at a scale that fits mid-market companies, not enterprise RFPs with six-figure minimums.
What "Back-Office" Actually Covers
Order & Invoice Processing
Order processing, invoice entry, and accounts payable support.
Data Entry & Records Management
Work that needs to be fast and accurate, not just fast.
Scheduling & Coordination
Calendar management and administrative coordination for teams drowning in it.
Email & Ticket Triage
Doesn't require a live phone agent, but still needs a real person paying attention.
Claims & Document Workflows
Healthcare, insurance, fintech, and e-commerce back-end workflows specific to each industry.
If it's repetitive, rules-based, and currently eating hours from someone whose job is supposed to be something else, it's probably a candidate for a Costa Rica back-office hire.
Bilingual Customer Support Teams Built for US Brands
A lot of companies think they need "English speakers." What they actually need is someone who can de-escalate a frustrated customer in a second language without sounding like they're reading from a script. That's a different skill, and it's not universal, even inside countries with strong English education systems.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for customer service representatives in the US sat at $44,770 as of May 2025. That's the baseline US employers are budgeting against before they even start evaluating candidates. A nearshore hire in Costa Rica changes that math without changing the skill level, because the labor market itself runs on a different cost structure, not a lower standard.
We staff for the industries where tone actually matters: e-commerce brands fielding order and shipping disputes, healthcare and insurance companies handling claims-adjacent calls where a wrong word creates a compliance headache, fintech support desks where a customer is usually anxious about their money the moment they call. Spanish-English bilingual coverage matters here too. Costa Rica's labor pool gives US companies serving Latin American or bilingual US customers a team that can flex between both languages without hiring two separate desks.
A cheaper agent who can't hold a real conversation in English costs you more than the hourly rate suggests. Every escalated call a nearshore team can't resolve becomes a US-based manager's problem, and that manager's time isn't cheap.
What Nearshore Actually Saves, Beyond the Hourly Rate
Deloitte's 2024 Global Outsourcing Survey found average cost reductions of 30% to 60% when outsourced functions are compared against fully loaded in-house costs, and nearshore engagements specifically preserve 6 to 8 hours of daily overlap with the client's business day. The same survey also found hidden charges running 15% to 20% on offshore engagements versus 5% to 10% on nearshore ones. That 10-point swing is often the difference between a deal that looks good on a slide and one that actually holds up after month four.
A few numbers from our own side of this: 6,236+ hires placed across Kore BPO's offshore and nearshore programs to date, 257+ clients currently running staffing or BPO programs with us, 2 to 5 business days as our standard turnaround for a first round of candidate resumes once a role is scoped, and $0 upfront fees to start a search or build a team. A lot of BPO vendors want a setup fee, a minimum seat commitment, or both before you've seen a single candidate. We don't structure it that way.
How a Costa Rica Team Actually Gets Built
Scoping call. We talk through the actual role: call volume, back-office task mix, required languages, shift coverage, and the systems the hire will need access to.
Candidate sourcing. We pull from our Costa Rica talent pipeline and run initial screening against the role's real requirements, not a generic template.
Resumes delivered. You get a shortlist in 2 to 5 business days. You interview who you want to interview.
Selection and onboarding. Once you pick candidates, we handle in-country onboarding and get the hire integrated into your workflows and tools.
Ongoing account management. We stay involved after placement. A hire that goes quiet after month one isn't a placement, it's a liability.
Who This Is For, and Who It Isn't
Worth saying plainly since it affects how you should read this page: we're a staffing and BPO company, and we get paid when you hire through us.
Good Fit for This
- ✓US companies that need 2 to 50 dedicated customer service or back-office hires in Costa Rica
- ✓You want US-overlapping hours without paying onshore wages
- ✓You don't want to sign a multi-year enterprise BPO contract to get there
- ✓E-commerce brands scaling support volume seasonally
- ✓Healthcare and insurance back-office teams drowning in claims and documentation
- ✓Fintech companies needing bilingual support desks, or SaaS companies needing Tier 1/Tier 2 coverage that doesn't vanish at 5 p.m. Eastern
Probably Not Right
- ✕You need exactly one part-time customer service hire and you're comfortable managing that relationship yourself through a freelance platform
- ✕Your support volume is unpredictable week to week and you're not ready to commit to even a small dedicated team. A flexible overflow vendor might serve you better
- ✕Your compliance requirements demand data residency or certifications we haven't verified for your specific use case. Say so on the scoping call before anything moves forward
We'd rather lose the deal than overpromise on something that bites you in an audit six months later.
Customer Service and Back-Office Services We Staff in Costa Rica
Inbound and Outbound Customer Support
Phone, email, and chat coverage for order issues, account questions, and general support queues, staffed to overlap with US business hours.
Bilingual Support Desks
Spanish-English coverage for companies serving US Hispanic customers or Latin American markets directly from a single team.
Back-Office and Administrative Processing
Data entry, invoicing, scheduling, and document workflows handled by dedicated hires who learn your systems instead of rotating through them.
Claims and Documentation Support
Healthcare, insurance, and fintech back-office roles where accuracy under volume matters more than raw speed.
What "Nearshore Outsourcing" Actually Means
Nearshore outsourcing is the practice of hiring or contracting workers in a nearby country, typically in Latin America for US companies, instead of domestically or in a distant offshore market like India or the Philippines. The defining advantage is time-zone overlap, which keeps real-time collaboration and live customer support functional without the overnight shift problems common to far-offshore arrangements. Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, and Brazil are the main nearshore talent markets US companies draw from today.
Costa Rica vs. Other Nearshore and Offshore Markets
Costa Rica runs on Central Time year-round with no daylight saving shift.
| Factor | Costa Rica (Nearshore) | Colombia / Mexico (Nearshore) | Philippines / India (Offshore) |
|---|---|---|---|
| US time-zone overlap | Full overlap, no DST shift | Strong overlap, varies by region | Minimal to none, typically overnight shifts |
| English proficiency reputation | High. CINDE reports 82% of BPO workers rate "professional working" or above | Strong and growing, varies by city | Strong in Philippines, more variable in India |
| BPO industry maturity | Decades-established, 280+ active BPO firms | Growing rapidly, strong in Bogota/Medellin | Extremely mature, largest global BPO volume |
| Best fit for | US-hours live support, bilingual Spanish/English needs | Cost-sensitive nearshore builds, Spanish-first support | High-volume back-office at lower hourly rates, overnight coverage |
Things Worth Knowing Before You Call
Is Costa Rica actually cheaper than hiring in the US?
Yes, meaningfully. Deloitte's 2024 survey found average cost reductions of 30% to 60% for outsourced functions against fully loaded in-house costs.
Is Costa Rica better than Colombia or Mexico for customer support?
Depends on what you need. Costa Rica tends to edge out on English proficiency reputation and BPO industry maturity. Colombia and Mexico are strong, often lower-cost options, especially for Spanish-first support.
How fast can a Costa Rica team actually start?
2 to 5 business days gets you a first round of resumes. Full onboarding timing after that depends on headcount and system access complexity, but it's measured in weeks, not quarters.
Do we need a multi-year contract to work with Kore BPO?
No. There's no mandatory long-term commitment and no upfront fee to start a search.
What's the real difference between hiring through Kore BPO and going with a traditional BPO vendor?
A traditional BPO vendor sells you seats inside their facility, often bundled with services you didn't ask for. We build a dedicated team that reports into your workflows, using your tools, selected by you in live interviews.
Can a Costa Rica team handle both customer service and back-office tasks for the same hire?
Often, yes, especially at smaller headcounts. A lot of mid-market companies start with a hybrid hire who splits time between ticket queues and data entry before scaling into dedicated roles for each.
Trusted by Leading SMBs
Companies across SaaS, e-commerce, finance, and professional services trust Kore BPO.
“Partnering with Kore BPO was a game-changer for our marketing efforts. Thanks to their support, we’ve streamlined our operations and seen measurable growth.”
“Kore BPO has been instrumental in helping us streamline our data processes. We’ve been able to free up valuable time to focus on building strong relationships.”
“Kore BPO helped us grow our team faster than we thought possible, without the stress we expected from offshore hiring. The results were transformative.”
Running the Math in Your Head Only Gets You So Far
Every month a support queue runs understaffed or a back-office backlog grows is a month of either lost customers or burned-out staff. Tell us what the role actually looks like. We'll have resumes back to you in 2 to 5 business days, with $0 upfront to find out if this is the right move.
Start a Scoping Call