Q COSTARICA — In July 2025, the United States passed the “Keep Call Centers in America Act.”
The law is designed to curb the offshoring of call center jobs and boost consumer protections. It requires companies to notify customers in advance if they outsource, reveal where their call center agents are located, and disclose any use of AI in customer interactions.
Additionally, businesses that move these jobs overseas won’t qualify for federal grants or loans.
This applies to companies with 50 or more call center workers.
So, what impact will this have on Costa Rica? And what challenges might workers there face?
If this passes, the companies with the tightest budgets or smallest profits might be the first to pull out of Costa Rica. Meanwhile, many firms will likely run cost-benefit analyses to decide if they should stay, which could boost remote work and coworking setups worldwide.
The law is still being reviewed in the Senate—it still has to be voted on and signed—so there’s no immediate threat. But it’s smart to start looking at options for investing or partnering with countries like France or Switzerland to be ready if things change.
Why does the U.S. need the Keep Call Centers in America Act?
The Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025 is being proposed by a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, including Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Senator Jim Justice (R-WV).
Senator Gallego highlights on his webpage that call centers are a significant part of the American economy, employing about 3 million customer service representatives nationwide, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Lately, many call centers have moved their operations overseas or shrunk their presence in the U.S. The BLS predicts this trend could lead to the loss of 150,000 call center jobs in America by 2033.
At the same time, companies are cutting costs by replacing human workers with automated phone systems and chatbots, which often means customers get lower-quality service. A survey from Data for Progress found that 70% of Americans get frustrated when they have to deal with automated systems instead of live agents.
Source link
Rico