Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Costa Rica (Ratification: 1966)

Coordinating education and training policy with employment opportunities. The Committee indicates in its reports for 2012 and 2013 that for graduates of the National Institute for Learning (INA) who have the greatest difficulty in finding employment, the INA provides individual assistance to expand opportunities for entry to the labour market. The INA has an electronic platform to record the needs entered by employers and an employment platform that serves as an interface. The Committee notes that the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Employers (UCCAEP) indicates that dual training needs to be promoted in the country and that the matter has been discussed with the Ministry of Labour and the INA; furthermore, a bill needs to be drafted to promote this initiative with a view to matching the training offered with the needs of the labour market. The Committee also notes the information provided by the Government on the network of intermediation services provided by the SIOIE, and refers the Government to its observation on the application of the Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88). The Committee invites the Government to include detailed information in its next report on the manner in which it ensures coordination between education and training policies with prospective employment opportunities; and invites the Government to continue to include data allowing an assessment of the manner in which the beneficiaries of the INA’s activities have found lasting employment. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would provide information on the measures taken or envisaged in the area of dual education.

Employment of women. The Government states that there has been an upward trend in women’s entry to the labour market in recent years. The net participation rate reached an all time high in 2009 (42 per cent). The Government draws attention to the significant employment of women in the formal sector: 60 per cent of all female employment. The Committee invites the Government to indicate in its next report the manner in which the measures taken have contributed to increasing women’s participation in the labour market.

Micro-enterprises and cooperatives. Informal economy. The Government recalls that the National Programme of Support to Micro-enterprises (PRONAMYPE) assists persons who are short of money and are unable to apply for loans in the national banking system, by setting up a micro-enterprise and providing business management training. PRONAMYPE has benefited a total of 3,251 persons due to its credit and training components. Agricultural activities accounted for 56.04 per cent of the loans granted and commercial activities for 23.18 per cent. The Government also indicates that the National Cooperative Development Institute (INFOCOOP) has continued to grant loans to promote viable cooperative undertakings with a high economic impact, at the same time ensuring that they generate high-quality employment. By April 2012, INFOCOOP had generated 840 jobs in cooperative undertakings. The Committee invites the Government to continue to report on the manner in which the initiatives for micro-enterprises and cooperatives have affected job creation and the improvement of the working conditions of persons employed in the informal economy.

Export processing zones. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Costa Rican Coalition of Development Initiatives, included in the Government’s report. High technology foreign investment enterprises generated 15,964 new jobs; over the last decade, an average of 5,917 new jobs were generated yearly. The Committee notes that the employment created by such enterprises accounts, on average, for 20 per cent of all private sector jobs generated in the formal economy and 9 per cent of jobs generated in the formal economy over the same period. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide up-to-date information on the contribution made by export processing zones to the creation of lasting and high-quality employment.