Even the COVID-19 pandemic did not stop the growth of the Department of Labor’s H-2A guest agricultural worker program.
The H-2A program continued to expand in fiscal year 2020, despite the jump in U.S. unemployment due to lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the USDA’s Economic Research Service.
Authored by Marcelo Castillo, Philip Martin and Zachariah Rutledge, the report found:
- The number of jobs certified to be filled with H-2A workers increased from around 75,000 in fiscal year 2010 to around 275,000 in fiscal year 2020. Six states accounted for 55% of H-2A jobs certified: Florida (14%), Georgia (10%), Washington (10%), California (9%), North Carolina (8%) and Louisiana (4%).
- Nationally, the average H-2A contract offered 24 weeks and 39.3 hours per week at an average hourly wage of $13. The average contract was worth $12,500, with a total H-2A wage bill of $3.5 billion in fiscal year 2020. Nationally, the average value of H-2A contracts ranged from $8,000 to $24,000.
- The top 1% of H-2A applicants (about 90 employers) received 40% of all H-2A certifications in the fiscal year 2020. Most applicants request relatively few workers; about two-thirds request between one and nine H-2A certifications and account for less than 8% of the national total. The top 10 employers of H-2A workers included two growers associations, two farms and six farm labor contractors.
- Farm labor contractors accounted for 44% of H-2A jobs certified in fiscal year 2020, with most jobs certified to farm labor contractors in Florida and California, although some of those contractors based in one state may employ H-2A workers in other states.
