MORE overseas job opportunities could soon open up for skilled Jamaican agriculture workers as the Government moves to diversify its Overseas Employment Programme to include agri-logistics positions in the United States.

In fact, although negotiations are ongoing, the initiative could create immediate opportunities for more than 500 Jamaicans, with the potential to grow to 2,000 or more within the next one to two years.

Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr made the disclosure at a Jamaica Observer Press Club last Thursday, sharing that he flew to the US for two days and made a presentation to US officials and members of farming associations.

“Subsequent to that, we were able to negotiate a potential new stream under the Overseas Employment Programme, which would diversify and create more dynamic opportunities for Jamaicans to engage in agriculture and agri-logistics in the United States,” Charles Jr said.

The minister led a high-level Jamaican delegation to the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) Annual Labour Forum on December 5, marking one of Jamaica’s most decisive moves to strengthen overseas employment partnerships and support the country’s post-Hurricane Melissa recovery.

The forum brought together industry leaders, farmers, ranchers, policymakers, and senior officials from across the American agricultural labour ecosystem.

In his address, Charles Jr moved to assure agricultural employers in the US that Jamaica is a source for employer-ready labour at a time when American agriculture faces significant workforce shortages and heightened regulatory demands.

He explained that this expansion is in response to workers who have lost income following the closure of businesses in the aftermath of the Category 5 weather system, which made landfall on the island’s south-western coast on October 28.

“We recognise the need to expand employment opportunities, resilient employment opportunities, particularly now when many persons have not lost their jobs outright but have lost the ability to earn income because their companies have shut down or have been otherwise affected,” he said.

While the details are still being finalised, Charles Jr told the Sunday Observer that, unlike the traditional farm work programme, the new stream will target skilled and semi-skilled workers, including mechanics, drivers, and managers.

“It will require us to engage partners such as the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU), the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE), and others, with a view to expanding the agricultural stream of the Overseas Employment Programme beyond traditional farm work. This will open opportunities for skilled Jamaicans, from CASE graduates to managers, drivers, mechanics, and others within the agri-logistics segment of the agricultural sector,” he said last Thursday.

The minister emphasised that the objective of the expansion is not only to increase employment and remittances, but also to ensure that participants return to Jamaica to start businesses and transfer knowledge after gaining experience in the US.

“My intention is to diversify the overseas employment programme, not to move away from farm work — which caters to persons without specialised skills but with farm experience — but to expand opportunities for skilled labour. This includes Jamaicans coming out of CASE, skilled drivers, mechanics, and others with varying expertise who can contribute to the sector, increase remittance inflows, and support knowledge transfer. Many of them, we anticipate, will return home to work, learn, and start businesses in Jamaica,” he said.

To support the initiative, Charles Jr said nine liaison officers who normally assist farm workers in Canada and the US have been reassigned to Jamaica to conduct assessments and provide operational support.

“As part of the approach, we have called in about nine of our liaison officers from Canada and the US. While they normally support farm workers overseas, they have shifted their work schedules to Jamaica. From morning until evening, they are conducting assessments, and they have been doing an excellent job,” he said.

Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr addressing a Jamaica Observer Press Club at the newspaper’s Beechwood Avenue, St Andrew, headquarters last Thursday. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)