Chinese labour dominates foreign nationals workforce
Published:Thursday | July 10, 2025 | 12:13 AMLivern Barrett/Senior Staff Reporter
To access this article in full please login or register today
Nearly four out of every 10 work permits approved by the Jamaican Government last year were for Chinese nationals, a new report has revealed. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) received a total of 5,651 work permit applications in...
Nearly four out of every 10 work permits approved by the Jamaican Government last year were for Chinese nationals, a new report has revealed.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) received a total of 5,651 work permit applications in 2024 – 3,080 for renewals and 2,571 new permits, according to the 2024 Economic and Social Survey Jamaica (ESSJ).
Applications for work permits increased 13.3 per cent when compared with 2023. The ESSJ states that approvals were granted for 86.7 per cent of new applications and 93.5 per cent of renewals.
Chinese nationals accounted for 1,891, or 37 per cent, of the approved work permits, the ESSJ notes, more than twice the number of nationals from India, who were next with 818, or 16 per cent of, approved permits.
The Dominican Republic (7.1 per cent), Mexico (6.6 per cent) and Cuba (6 per cent) rounded out the top five.
Dalton Yap, a third-generation Chinese-Jamaican, said it is “very obvious” that Chinese nationals are making significant inroads into areas once dominated by local tradesmen, citing Whole Hearted Car Service Company as an example.
The Chinese-operated motor vehicle repair entity, located in Ferry, St Catherine, drew hundreds of customers daily – some people lining up from 5 a.m. – with the promise of top-quality service at affordable prices.
Yap warned that the number of Chinese nationals in the Jamaican workforce could “soon overwhelm us, because we still have people coming out of high school who can’t read and write properly and don’t want to learn a skill”.
“The marketplace in China is like a fitness factory. Who is the fittest, who is going to do a hundred push-ups? They consistently compete with each other with skills, ideas, quality or customer service ... and they have perfected it,” said Yap, immediate past president of the Chinese Benevolent Association.
“We deh here in Jamaica, a man car bruk down and dem always a bring you to a man in a little back alley or a little mash up place, and dem charge you an arm and a leg. Why you think people lined up at that place in Ferry?” he said, making reference to Whole Hearted Car Service.
The number of Chinese nationals in the Jamaican workforce is of no concern to the powerful Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ).
“We recognise that we have 3.4 per cent unemployment in Jamaica, which means almost full employment. We are having a hard time identifying people to work, whether Jamaicans, Chinese or any other kinds of persons,” PSOJ President Metry Seaga told The Gleaner yesterday.
He said the PSOJ is happy with the move by the Government to open up the work permit system, which, he believes, will make it less expensive for local businesses to find employees.
The wholesale and retail sector combined with the motor vehicle and motorcycle repair sector accounted for a total of 2,086 work permits issued last year, the ESSJ reveals.
Construction was next with 937, followed by accommodation and food service activities, which accounted for 699 of the approved permits.
Some 2,099 permits were issued to managers, 1,438 to professionals, 492 to technicians and associated professionals, and 401 to crafts and trade-related workers.