By Wendy Anders

Last week Citi inaugurated two new buildings in Costa Rica, and announced 400 new positions to be filled by the end of this year, stated the company in a press release.

New York City-based Citigroup, Inc., or Citi, is a multinational investment banking and financial services corporation suffered huge losses during the global financial crisis of 2008 and received a massive stimulus package by the U.S. government in November 2008, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

As of June 2012, the year of Citi’s 200th anniversary, Citigroup had built up an enormous cash reserve in the wake of the financial crisis with $420 billion in surplus liquid cash and government securities, according to the company website.

Since 2008, Citi has invested more than $40 million dollars in Costa Rica, where they have operated for 48 years.

The two new buildings were added to their existing 2-building infrastructure in El Cafetal Corporate Center in San Antonio de Belén, Heredia which will allow for all of the country’s staff to be located in one location.

Citi staff currently based in Forum I in Santa Ana will move to the Belén site starting this month.

The current Service Center staff in Belén is slated to grow from its current 1,900 to 2,300 by the end of the year, said Edward Sánchez, Citi general manager for Costa Rica.

Bilingual positions will be available in the following areas: information technology (applications development, databases, and infrastructure), accounting, finance and financial analysis, risk and control, human resources, internal auditing, purchasing, and accounts payable.

The company noted the favorable business investment climate in Costa Rica emphasizing the availability of skilled and bilingual candidates, the country’s political stability, the educational system, and the technology infrastructure.

Citi also offers an internship opportunities for local technical high school and university students, and promotes equal opportunity in hiring and leadership opportunities. The company noted that 1/2 of their employees are women and managerial posts held by women in Citi Costa Rica have increased by 30 percent since 2015.