The Jamaica Central Labour Organisation (JCLO) continues to assert its role as Jamaica’s principal authority on overseas employment, driving strategic international engagement to expand legal labour pathways, strengthen worker protections, and enhance the global competitiveness of Jamaican workers.

As part of this mandate, Colette Roberts Risden, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security with oversight responsibility for overseas employment programmes in the United States and Canada, met with Antony Anderson, Jamaica’s High Commissioner to the United States, at the Embassy of Jamaica in Washington, D.C.

The engagement focused on advancing Jamaica’s participation in the H-2A and H-2B visa programmes, strengthening regulatory and operational frameworks, and expanding access to higher-value employment opportunities for Jamaican workers. Discussions aligned with JCLO’s strategic priority to modernize labour mobility systems, deepen employer partnerships, and reinforce Jamaica’s reputation as a trusted source of skilled, disciplined, and reliable labour.

JCLO outlined targeted expansion pathways, including new opportunities for Commercial Driver’s Licence (CDL) holders, heavy-equipment operators, and technically trained workers. These sectors reflect JCLO’s workforce intelligence strategy, which leverages labour market data to match Jamaican talent with high-demand international industries.

The meeting reaffirmed the long-standing bilateral labour partnership between Jamaica and the United States, which dates back to 1943 and has since evolved into one of the most enduring and structured labour mobility arrangements in the Western Hemisphere. Under JCLO’s stewardship, the programme has grown in scale, sophistication, and governance, supported by strengthened compliance systems, employer accountability mechanisms, and worker-welfare protections.

In the most recent programme year, approximately 5,000 Jamaicans participated in the H-2A agricultural programme, while more than 12,000 secured employment through the H-2B programme across hospitality, landscaping, and service industries. Beyond job placement, JCLO continues to lead reforms in labour standards enforcement, occupational safety, anti-trafficking safeguards, and worker support systems across destination markets.

The engagement also recognized overseas employment as a critical component of Jamaica’s post-Hurricane Melissa economic recovery strategy, providing income stability, foreign exchange inflows, and livelihood resilience for affected households and rural communities.

PS Risden was supported by liaison officers Sheldon Brown and Karlene Brown, who provide direct oversight and worker support in the United States, along with Aliceia Taylor, Minister Counsellor for Trade and Economic Affairs at the Embassy.

JCLO reaffirmed its commitment to scaling Jamaica’s overseas employment footprint, strengthening governance and compliance frameworks, expanding high-quality labour opportunities, and positioning Jamaican workers as a globally competitive, protected, and high-value workforce.