Hybrid Work Expands Access to Global Career Opportunities Beyond Costa Rica’s Greater Metropolitan Area

• Flexible work models are helping connect skilled professionals in rural communities with specialized roles and international career pathways

Heredia, Costa Rica — For decades, pursuing a professional career in Costa Rica often required relocating to the Greater Metropolitan Area (GMA), where most corporate and specialized employment opportunities were concentrated. Today, the continued evolution of hybrid work models is helping reshape that reality, enabling highly skilled professionals to build global careers while remaining in the communities they call home.

This shift reflects a broader transformation among multinational companies operating in Costa Rica. According to a recent survey by CINDE, more than 80% of multinational organizations in the country currently operate under hybrid work models, driven by the need to access specialized talent, enhance productivity, and strengthen employee retention.

As these models continue to mature, they are creating new pathways for professionals located outside the country’s primary urban centers. At the same time, labor market studies continue to highlight persistent geographic disparities, with flexible work opportunities remaining more concentrated in urban areas while rural communities often face greater challenges related to employment access, transportation and connectivity.

Amid this evolving employment landscape, TransUnion’s Global Capability Center (GCC) in Costa Rica, established in 2022, is helping expand access to professional opportunities beyond the GMA. Today, nearly 20% of the center’s workforce is based outside the country’s central region, contributing to specialized functions that support global teams, processes and operations.

“While TransUnion offers modern workspaces within the GMA designed to foster innovation, teamwork and connection we also recognize the important role workplace flexibility plays in expanding access to professional opportunities,” said Bryan Castillo, Head of the GCC Costa Rica. “Our hybrid work model enables employees across different regions of the country to build careers with global exposure without having to permanently relocate. Combined with access to technology, digital tools and connectivity support, this approach helps create the conditions for talent to grow, contribute and succeed from virtually anywhere in Costa Rica.”

By expanding access to specialized employment opportunities, the company supports career development with international exposure while contributing to the creation of stable, formal employment opportunities in regions where these career paths have historically been less accessible.

Expanding Global Career Opportunities Beyond Costa Rica's GMA

One example of this impact is Karol Portugués, a TransUnion employee from Agua Caliente de Pittier, a rural community near La Amistad International Park in Costa Rica’s southern region.

Like many young professionals growing up outside the Greater Metropolitan Area, Karol faced challenges related to internet access, educational opportunities and exposure to specialized career paths. After studying English and overcoming various obstacles to continue her professional development, she found an opportunity at TransUnion to build a corporate career while remaining connected to the region where she grew up.

Karol joined the company in 2022 in customer support and operational service roles. Through her commitment to continuous learning and a willingness to take on new challenges, she steadily expanded her responsibilities, gaining experience in operational analysis and process optimization, while building the skills that prepared her for increasingly specialized positions.

As her role evolved, Karol began supporting process improvement and automation initiatives for TransUnion’s global customer service operations. Her contributions helped strengthen information validation and quality assurance processes, enabling teams to efficiently manage more than twice the daily case volume while maintaining high service standards.

Through this experience, she further developed expertise in data analysis, operational excellence and quality assurance — skills that accelerated her professional growth and prepared her for new opportunities within the organization.

In less than four years, her performance and development led to two promotions.

“For many people living in rural communities, accessing professional employment opportunities can be challenging,” said Portugués. “Having the opportunity to work in a global organization allows us not only to build meaningful careers, but also to achieve greater stability, continue growing professionally and remain connected to the communities where we belong.”

Beyond her own professional journey, Karol has become a strong advocate for employment opportunities in Costa Rica’s southern region. During her time at TransUnion, she has referred more than a hundred individuals interested in pursuing careers with the company. Her efforts have helped connect multiple professionals from the region with opportunities at TransUnion, creating a multiplier effect that brings globally connected careers closer to communities traditionally distant from the country’s major economic centers.

Karol’s story reflects a broader transformation taking place across Costa Rica’s labor market. As hybrid work models continue to evolve and organizations expand their talent strategies, geographic location is becoming less of a barrier than skills, potential and professional readiness.

For global organizations such as TransUnion, this evolution not only strengthens competitiveness and access to specialized talent, but also contributes to expanding economic opportunity and professional development in communities beyond the country’s primary urban centers.

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.

For more information, visit www.transunioncentralamerica.com/gcc.