For some Jamaicans dreaming of a job overseas, the process does not end with passing the required tests, a reality that sparked debate in Parliament last Friday as legislators raised concerns about communication gaps in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s Overseas Employment Programme.

The issue surfaced during the Standing Finance Committee’s review of the ministry, when St Andrew South Eastern Member of Parliament (MP) Julian Robinson said some applicants from his constituency who had already cleared key hurdles in 2024 were still awaiting answers.

According to Robinson, an Opposition MP, several people he had submitted for the programme had passed the test and completed medicals, yet had heard nothing further about whether they would actually be sent abroad.

“A number of them have been selected, they’ve passed the test, they have done their medicals, but there’s been no contact since, and what I want to find out is what is the basis on which persons, having gone through the process, been successful? What’s the basis on which they’re selected to go abroad? Because I can’t answer the question when they’re asking me, and they’re seeing other persons being selected without any acknowledgement or anything, and it’s frustrating because they believe the MP can do something about it and the MP can’t,” he said.

Robinson said the same problem appeared to be affecting the current recruitment cycle. On a 2025 list of 50 people, he said 13 were marked as no-shows, but when he checked with them, they insisted they had never been contacted. That, he argued, points to a breakdown in communication that could be shutting out people who are eager and ready to work.

“I am imploring the ministry, if there are difficulties in contacting persons — because phone numbers change, most of them have prepaid numbers, numbers may retire — contact the MP’s office because every single one of those persons, the length they have gone through to be on this programme, they’re going to show up. I know those people are going to show up. So if you can’t reach them, ask us to contact them so that they can be given the opportunity,” Robinson appealed.

The 2026/27 Estimates of Expenditure allocate about $180 million for the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s Overseas Employment and Migration activity, which supports the recruitment, selection, dispatch, and repatriation of Jamaican workers for jobs in the United States, Canada, and at the US naval station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The figure is broadly in line with the approximately $179 million allocated in the previous fiscal year, which was later revised to about $185 million in the supplementary estimates.

Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr defended the programme, noting a series of changes introduced in recent years.

“We have a modernised system and we’ve actually implemented in the last two years, psychometric testing, training, and other elements that have had a particular effect. What has happened is that there’s more retention of the farm workers that have been sent overseas. So if you look year to year, there’s actually an increase in the amount of Jamaicans that have gone overseas for employment, but there’s an increase in the returning persons because of the effort of the Government to better train, to improve our liaison services, and to make certain investments that are reaping benefit,” he explained.

Still, Charles Jr acknowledged that selection is not simply a matter of passing local screening requirements. He said placements depend heavily on employer demand, meaning candidates can remain ready and waiting for extended periods if the overseas requests do not come through at the expected level.

“So again, it’s all based on demand. And the reality is… when you interview, do your medical, get yourself ready, and you stay in the pool for an extended period… what we have seen happen is frustration, and so even now we are contemplating when do we call for additional persons. It has to be after we’ve treated with your 24, your 25 season of persons who are already trained, already ready, and are in the pool,” he added.

That explanation helped frame the wider concern raised in committee
— not simply whether Jamaicans are being recruited, but whether the people already in the pipeline understand where they stand. Charles Jr said the ministry is trying to avoid bringing in new applicants while others who are trained and medically cleared remain in limbo.

However, Robinson raised another issue centred on women seeking overseas jobs. He noted that women in his constituency were blaming him for their inability to access the programme, because opportunities coming through MPs appeared to be overwhelmingly for men.

“A lady was very upset with me in my constituency the other day because she said, why am I not putting her name forward? I said, ‘Well, it’s only men I get…’ But I’m just saying, is there uniformity in how the recruitment of women is done in terms of the opportunities across the board for all 63 constituencies?” Robinson asked.

Charles Jr responded that the shortage of openings for women reflects the structure of overseas demand rather than a local policy to exclude them. He said there have been few significant opportunities for women in recent years, especially in the agricultural stream, and the ministry is now turning more of its attention to hospitality placements in the United States, where it sees better prospects.

“In the last five years there have not been significant opportunities for placement of women. That’s just the reality. The opportunities arise from demand. We have no control over what the employer seeks or requests… the majority of the opportunities for females come under hospitality which is in the US. That is where we are turning our attention and making our investment,” he said.

He also linked the slowdown in some agricultural opportunities to external conditions in North America, saying weather patterns and other disruptions affecting farming in Canada and the United States have reduced the appetite for workers in that stream. At the same time, he urged prospective applicants to use free HEART training to strengthen their chances, especially in hospitality, where certification and experience are both increasingly important.

By the end of the exchange, however, the most immediate point of agreement was not about labour demand abroad, but communication at home. Robinson pressed for a commitment that MPs’ offices be contacted when ministry officials cannot reach shortlisted applicants. Charles Jr said that was a reasonable suggestion and indicated the ministry was willing to adopt it.

“I think that’s an excellent suggestion… If the numbers are working we call… But I accept what you’re saying as an option and something that we can take into consideration and implement,” he said.