A social scientist is warning that some employers operating in Jamaica — particularly at the wholesale and retail levels — are strategically exploiting the economic vulnerabilities of single mothers and young female school-leavers.

“They know that many women are more economically deprived than men, especially single mothers or those fresh out of school. They offer them lower wages, and because these women are vulnerable, they accept it,” Dr Paul Bourne, director of the Socio-Medical Research Institute, told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.

Bourne was responding to a Business Observer query triggered by a notice recently posted by a retail store that it is looking to hire part-time staff, students, and contract workers — but only females. The notice has brought to the forefront deeper structural issues that experts say Jamaica has been grappling with for generations.

Bourne, who has spent years conducting private research, said that when international or culturally distinct employers enter the Jamaican market, some come armed with business strategies shaped by their understanding of local vulnerabilities — what he terms an “assessment of vulnerability”.

In some cases, the exploitation goes beyond wages.

“Instead of giving them what they ought to get, they seduce them and give them that in place of a salary increase,” he said, noting that while not every employer engages in this behaviour, the pattern — when it appears — is deeply troubling.

Bourne believes that Jamaican women are not necessarily the preferred hires because they are more productive, but because they are perceived as easier to manage under difficult conditions.

“They don’t ask about your skills or your goals. They ask if you have kids, if you’re in school. They want to know how badly you need the work.”

This stands in contrast to the view of Wayne Chen, president of the Jamaica Employers’ Federation, who argues that Jamaican women have outpaced men in education, discipline, and workplace culture.

“Girls are expected to manage the household, care for younger siblings, and take on roles that require maturity. That stays with them into adulthood,” Chen said. “It’s not about vulnerability. Jamaican women are, by and large, more disciplined.”

He points out that women now dominate the workforce in several formal sectors — from the civil service to medicine and law. “This is not a coincidence. The perception that women are more diligent doesn’t come out of thin air. It comes from what employers have experienced,” Chen said.

While both experts agree that the entry-level job market is heavily populated by women, they differ sharply on the reasons. Bourne sees systemic inequality and economic desperation as primary drivers. Chen credits long-standing patterns of socialisation and agency.

“Jamaica is a free country — nobody can trap you in a job. In fact, our unemployment rate is at a historic low. If you go to any plaza in Jamaica, if you go up and down the street, if you turn on the TV, you see the fast-food places continuously advertising for workers. So, why would someone voluntarily work at these places when you can get a job at KFC or Popeyes tomorrow morning because they’re always short of people? Why would they be trapped in a less-favourable set-up?” Chen questioned.

He argued further that formal employers like KFC offer transparent roles. “You go to KFC, you know what you’re getting: You’re going to stand up behind a counter. Everything is right there in the open — there’s no hidden job at KFC that you don’t see already so, at the very least, these operators must be offering something that KFC is not.”

Several female workers interviewed by the Business Observer offered a mix of both narratives.

One 23-year-old retail clerk, who asked not to be named, said she took her current job to support her studies.

“I don’t plan on staying here forever, it’s just a means to an end. The opportunity came so I just took it,” she said.

Another said she often feels cornered by circumstance. “I don’t have any subjects and I can’t sit down and wait on anybody. I have my baby, my rent, and my school fee to pay. I have to work with what I get.”

Restaurants in Jamaica largely require job applicants to be customer-focused, people-friendly with good communication and listening skills. But most maintain that applicants must possess at least one subject — even a grade three pass in food and nutrition management, human and social biology, home management or agricultural science.

At bare minimum they require candidates to hold HEART/NSTA Trust or National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET) passes in one of the following areas: food preparation, commis chef, or customer service.

Those qualifications, however, are not required for wholesale or retail stores, which currently offer workers the national minimum wage of $15,000 weekly. That will move to $16,000 effective June 1, 2025.

“That’s the biggest part of our problem — our education system is not meeting the needs of the people. When you have a school system in which so many students graduate without a subject, think how bad that is. And persons are grateful just to be able to read,” Bourne said.

In other cases, women’s decision to remain in lower-paying retail or wholesale roles over more structured restaurant jobs like those in fast-food chains is shaped by practical considerations.

“I work here instead of fast-food because no tax comes out of my little money… I get all a my pay,” one young woman who works in a retail store downtown Kingston explained. “Plus, I get tips from customers.”

Another, who works in Spanish Town, added: “I am not going to lie, sometimes a one man will come in the store and if him like me he will buy me a lunch. And if him like me enough, I will get lunch for weeks or months — and to me that works out better than the fast-food job with the long hours or the early mornings.”

Still, not all working conditions are equal. Some women recounted being passed over for promotions, pressured to work overtime without pay, or being subjected to inappropriate advances.

“Sometimes if yuh too stush, dem nuh call yuh back,” one woman said of her previous employer.

Chen maintains that the majority of employers in the formal sector adhere to standards of professionalism, but acknowledged that exploitation can thrive in less-regulated spaces.

“Most reputable businesses operate by the book. Where we need to focus is on informal and fringe employers who operate outside of labour regulations,” he said.