It has been said that in today's economy, with changing attitudes towards work, the Costa Rican Coffee industry may be beginning to struggle. This is due to large service sector and electronics countries outsourcing their work to places such as Costa Rica, allowing Ticos to get jobs with better pay and working conditions, than the coffee fields. This then means that the coffee growers have a problem trying to find coffee pickers, within legal means. This usually ends up in them employing large numbers of illegal Nicaraguan's who have illegally crossed the border in search of work.

It is said that few, if any, other industries are as Costa Rican as Coffee, with its long running history, many people believe that more should be done to avoid these new industries from harming the most historic of Costa Rica's exports. Since the 19th century coffee has been Costa Rica's staple export, and it would be damaging to both the country and its economy should it continue to decline as it has. In 2006 the export of coffee only accounted for 2.8% of the countries total exports. Coffee had fallen behind microprocessors, bananas, pineapples and medical equipment, causing some people to sit up and look at how the industry can once again be improved.

In 1999 there was a price collapse in the coffee industry, due to overproduction in developing industries in Vietnam and Brazil due to their massive economies of scale and cheaper labor. It would have been an easy option for Costa Rican coffee growers to try and compete with these and become mass producers, but would have been difficult to succeed. Instead they have opted to concentrate on quality, and set the price of their coffee to appeal to more than just the average day to day coffee drinker. With this in mind, the coffee industry is still recovering from the 1999 price drop, and it is hoped that the industry will fully recover and expand in years to come.

Work in San Jose to improve walkways, road crossings and add in much needed green space is still continuing. Many people, rightly comment that San Jose is not the nicest place to visit, and that it is also not pedestrian friendly, and this has finally been addressed. Many roads and walkways are being re laid and improved, with the addition of green space to brighten up the otherwise dull and gray city.