Salvadorans benefited from the labor mobility program coordinated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, develop at least , in 18 different areas of work, according to official figures of the program.
These 18 areas cover 183 different jobs in which more than 13,000 Salvadorans have performed functions in the last three years.
It is worth mentioning that between 2022 and 2024, the United States has issued 20,763 temporary work visas to Salvadorans. Of these: 13,718 have been granted with the labour mobility programme.
The remaining 7,045 temporary work visas have been assigned through the procedures of independent recruiters working with U.S. companies and conduct their processes outside the USAID- implemented program.
With the labour mobility programme alone, the number of visas issued has increased from 2,874 in 2022 to 5,676 in 2024.
Of the 13,718 visas managed through the program: 502 have allowed Salvadorans to carry out work in agricultural areas, such as in orchards, nurseries, farms, fields, or others; and 13,216 have been distributed for work such as construction, restaurant cuisine, manufacturing, fishing, gardening or cleaning and maintenance, among others.
The last two items mentioned above are those covering the largest number of visas issued, with 3,779 visas for gardening jobs, and 3,312 for cleaning and maintenance work.
Praise
Beyond the name, the tasks to be performed in these areas include, among others, landscaping, snow removal, lawn caregivers, janitors, facility maintenance, receptionists, among others.
American employees have highlighted the work Salvadorans do in companies, and appreciate the willingness to learn and fulfill their tasks.
The good nature that Salvadorans have is a great characteristic that identifies them. And if they don’t know how to do something, they ask for the management to be able to do it; that makes them so important to what we do, said Michael Rupkey, general manager of one of the Courtyard by Marriot hotels in Minneapolis, in the state of Minnesota.
Rupkey stressed that Salvadorans do many jobs that many people don’t see easily. What I would like to highlight is that they not only do cleanliness; depending on their skills they can expand the type of work they do,” he emphasized.
In fiscal year 2024, there were six Salvadorans working on a temporary visa at the Courtyard by Marriot hotels in Minneapolis, including people from places such as Apopa, Guazapa or Chalatenango, among others.
James Saybolt, founder of Biota, a landscaping company, highlighted the work of Salvadorans, and highlighted the advantages they can gain if they have qualities such as English language management or having a driver’s license.
Some of them have licenses in El Salvador. And it helps us a lot if they can drive here with us. That’s why we pay to get the tests out and have the license, and immediately earn $1 more an hour, because it helps us, Saybolt explained.
Saybolt noted that, of the eight Salvadoran workers he had in fiscal year 2024, two managed to get their U.S. driver’s license and that allowed them to have a better salary.
In addition to the above mentioned items, there are also a high number of temporary work visas authorized for carnival work (717), hospitality (788), fishing (1,410), and others.
This article was translated after appearing in La Prensa Grafica