NEWS
New Shared Service Center for the Americas inaugurated
• The Center's operation started in June 2017, providing services in information technologies, and already counts 204 employees among its three support areas.
• The facilities are located at Escazu Village with a total area of 4.600 m2.
• This Center is complemented with two others, located in Kuala Lumpur and Budapest, through which the company will provide 24/7 services to its affiliates worldwide.
San Jose, 20 February 2019. Roche - a leader in personalised medicine and the world’s largest biotech company - inaugurated the Finance and Procurement areas of its Shared Service Center for the Americas today. From Costa Rica, the company will provide business operations support to the Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics divisions across the entire American Continent. The operation will generate approximately 400 direct and 50 indirect jobs by the end of 2020.
The Center, which began operations in June 2017, also provides services in information technology (IT) to the United States and Canada team. Currently, it employs 204 people (including Costa Rican and foreigners) who work in Finance, Procurement and IT, and will continue growing over these next two years.
With this expansion, Roche consolidates, from Costa Rica, the service in these three support areas for the company’s affiliates throughout the Americas. The facilities are located at the Escazu Village Office Center and comprise a total of 4,600 m2, divided into two floors of 2,300 m2 each.
The operation complements the other two Roche Shared Service Centers located in Budapest (Hungary) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), through which the company will provide 24/7 services to its affiliates worldwide.
The First Lady of Costa Rica, Claudia Dobles, visited the offices of the new shared service center and said, "We thank and congratulate Roche for the inauguration of this new service center in our country. Costa Rica needs this type of investment, focusing on innovation, research, development, and science, which also generate jobs and improve the productivity of our country."
Alan Hippe, Roche’s Chief Financial and Information Officer (CFO-CIO), was present for the ceremony. “Roche is focused on innovation and patients. We have been in Costa Rica since 1973. The country stands for political stability, legal certainty and one of the best trained work forces in Latin America. The fantastic people and the right business climate here make today’s expansion the right decision for Roche.”
Dyala Jimenez, Minister of Foreign Trade, highlighted, "The opening of this modern center fills us with deep pride. Roche has been a company who came to Costa Rica to stay... we have become key partners and have built together a strategic relationship for several years now. This journey we have taken together shows the good work that we have done, especially with Costa Rican talent. Costa Rica is a country that dreams big and Roche, with its constant innovation, research, development, and science, has also been an example of this. We assure you that we share, as a country, your vision of the future, with a focus on making the most of opportunities that come up ahead. I wish you much success!”
Jorge Sequeira, General Director of CINDE, stated, “We applaud the growth of Roche in Costa Rica. A year ago, we inaugurated operations in Information Technology in this Shared Service Center for the Americas. Now, we do it for Finance and Purchases. The daily efforts of its entire team add to our outstanding statistics in the service sector of our country represents half of Costa Rican exports and 47% of them have to do with IT and business services”.
Currently, the Service Center requires bilingual and trilingual (Spanish, English, Portuguese, and/or French) personnel for different positions: General Accounting Management, cost accounting, fixed assets, accounts payable, accounts receivable, treasury, vendor management, procurement support, compliance, controlling, project management and information technology, among others.
A company with multiple benefits
Roche is a company that encourages its employees to develop a professional career within the company and to follow their passion. “Working in our Service Center lets them opt for endless growth opportunities, both locally and abroad in our centers and affiliates around the world. This is evident in the fact that we have not only Costa Rican employees, but also Colombian, Swiss, Peruvian, American, and Brazilian staff. With their work, they contribute to improve the lives of thousands of patients”, highlighted Hector Feliu, General Manager of Shared Service Center for the Americas.
The Center facility boasts a contemporary design with open, multi-functional, and versatile spaces that enable employees to share and exchange knowledge that boosts their productivity. Furthermore, workstations are ergonomic and with state-of-the-art technology.
Additionally, the facilities include a lalactation room for mothers, recycling stations and gaming areas, where people can relax, watch television, or even play ping pong and pool in their spare time. The company provides medical and life insurance, extended maternity and paternity leave, and workers’ savings association. Respect for diversity and inclusivity are also strong company values.
About Roche
Founded in 1896, Roche continues to search for better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases and make a sustainable contribution to society. The company also aims to improve patient access to medical innovations by working with all relevant stakeholders. Thirty medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and cancer medicines. Moreover, for the tenth consecutive year, Roche has been recognised as the most sustainable company in the Pharmaceuticals Industry by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI).
The Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is active in over 100 countries and in 2018 employed about 94,000 people worldwide. In 2018, Roche invested CHF 11 billion in Randamp;D and posted sales of CHF 56.8 billion. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan.
