Costa Ricans Take on High-Profile International Positions Without Leaving the Country

• TransUnion’s Global Capability Center (GCC) in Heredia provides its almost 700 employees with the opportunity to advance their global careers in a variety of functions across different seniority levels
• The center has seen rapid growth since it opened, and have added almost 300 roles this year alone
• As an example, Costa Rican employees conceptualize and design improvements to the global chat and messaging service supporting TransUnion across many international markets

Many talented individuals leave Costa Rica to advance their careers and gain international exposure, but what about those who do not have the resources to travel or relocate, or more importantly, those who do not want to leave the country or their family to gain that experience?

TransUnion's Global Capability Center (GCC) model in Costa Rica challenges the belief that professionals must live abroad to build experience in key global positions. This global information and insights company opened its GCC in Heredia in November 2022, and through this initiative, it leverages local talent from all over the country to support its operations in more than 30 countries.

“We believe that great opportunities can be accessed locally, benefiting the country’s economy. For example, you could be a product manager in a different market, manage the global intranet, or oversee cybersecurity for any one of the 30+ countries in which we operate, all from your hometown. Similarly, given the hybrid nature of 95% of our roles in Costa Rica, you can lead global teams from anywhere in the country where you have access to a reliable Internet connection, a benefit TransUnion reimburses employees for,” said Bryan Castillo, Director of the GCC in Costa Rica.

TransUnion employees develop, manage, and lead a variety of global projects and teams from Costa Rica. For example, more than 50 Costa Rican employees, including data scientists, software engineers, system architects, and other professionals in fields related to data, cybersecurity, and software development are tasked with supporting OneTru — TransUnion’s solution enablement platform for managing, governing, analyzing and delivering data and insights. Their work impacts millions of consumers and businesses worldwide. OneTru gives our customers a Tru™ picture of consumers — faster — by enabling more accurate identity resolution, complete and contextualized insights, as well as adaptability to changing regulations.

Another key function supported from the country is the chat and messaging support team. The team is responsible for providing, maintaining and improving the platform that offers customer support to millions of users across multiple markets such as the US, Canada, South Africa, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

Their performance has been remarkable. Between 2023 and now, they implemented 85 new capabilities and innovative enhancements to the platform, allowing them to create premium experiences for customers and consumers across many international markets.

This GCC model is sustainable because the company continues to upskill and reskill its workforce and continues to add capabilities across a range of specialties, creating opportunities for locals while helping the organization optimize its global operating model. Initially, it focused on operational roles, including contact center agents, technical support, etc. Today, 62% of TransUnion’s GCC Costa roles are in more specialized and senior roles in areas like human resources, operations, technology, marketing and communications, legal and compliance, fraud prevention, and data analysis.

“Our employees have become involved in, and often lead, high-visibility projects that impact the entire global business. Some of the new roles recently added include technical product managers, principal devops engineers, principal data scientists, principal security analysts, senior full stack developers, among others, demonstrating the company’s commitment to expand its capabilities in the region,” Castillo added.

TransUnion employs almost 700 people in the Costa Rican-based GCC (20% in non-GAM areas) and plans to continue hiring both junior positions for individuals looking to start their careers and senior roles offering leadership opportunities. This year, the company has created nearly 300 additional roles and is currently recruiting for more than 40 positions.

About TransUnion Costa Rica (NYSE:TRU)

TransUnion is a global information and insights company that makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing an actionable picture of each person, stewarded with care, so they can be reliably represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good®. TransUnion provides solutions that help create economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for hundreds of millions of people in more than 30 countries.

TransUnion's Global Capability Centers (GCCs) enable a global operating model with robust scale and scope, improving efficiency and effectiveness whilst strengthening operational resilience and augmenting our existing service offering to clients and consumers.

In Costa Rica, our GCC leverages local talent to deliver TransUnion’s core capabilities and support global operations with scale and speed. We’re creating opportunities across a range of skills such as contact center, business process management, technology support and data analytics roles, among others, while expanding time-zone and language coverage, and ultimately enabling thriving economies around the world.