In November the trade sector will temporarily employ about 9,000 people, in order to have adequate staff to meet the higher demand for Black Friday, Christmas and New Year.
In addition, the sector anticipates an increase in sales and more investment in security so that people can benefit from the offers with ease.
According to the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce of Costa Rica (CCCR), Alonso Elizondo, employment expectations have not been very good this year, since the data from the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) shows only 689 people were hired from January to July 2016, a figure that is relatively low if you take into account that in 2015 10,946 jobs were created.
According to an index of confidence in the commercial sector, 65% of companies said they have no plans to make staff changes and only 18% plan to hire more staff in the next three months.
Companies expect an increase in sales over the previous year (72%) and will apply discounts from 10% to 60% in products such as clothing and accessories, groceries, electronics and others.
However, traders criticize the little access to current credit (43%) and the fact that this affects many small and medium enterprises (27%).
36% of companies surveyed expect to maintain their levels of investment and 19% of companies plan to invest more in the next three months, while 24% do not plan to make further investments.