Opposition Leader Mark Golding has outlined the People’s National Party’s plans to ensure Jamaicans have access to jobs if outsourcing opportunities decline, given the United States’ implementation of the Keep Call Centres in America Act.

The Keep Call Centres in America Act of 2025 targets the offshoring of call centre operations, imposes new disclosure rules for customer service interactions, and ties federal funding eligibility to domestic operations.

“The evolution of technology, especially the advent of artificial intelligence, is also a threat to the type of services that are provided through outsourcing,” Golding said during Thursday night’s debate with Prime Minister Andrew Honless. “We must upskill our existing workforce so that they can be trained to do the type of tasks that technology isn’t going to be as adept at dealing with.”

Golding outlined a strategy to future-proof youth employment, centred on training, innovation, and entrepreneurship. At the heart of this plan is the proposed Youth Innovation Fund, aimed at providing grants and loans to young Jamaicans with business ideas in tech, the creative industries, and beyond.

“This fund will help young people monetise their talents and build brand Jamaica,” he said.

He also announced a private-sector training incentive where businesses that invest in upskilling their staff would receive dollar-for-dollar matching through the HEART programme—a move designed to lift more Jamaicans out of low-wage, low-skill jobs.

Holness responded by dismissing Golding’s proposals as vague and idealistic. “Let me give you some practical and real answers instead of airy-fairy stuff,” Holness said.

The prime minister detailed a series of investments already underway to shift Jamaica’s economic base beyond traditional BPO. These include major projects like Caymanas Development and Raintree Commercial Complex, which he said are part of a strategy to attract “near-shoring and friendly-shoring” production back to the region.

Holness pointed to concrete steps already taken under his administration:

• Over 120,000 Jamaicans can access free training through HEART
• The establishment of the Amber HEART Coding Academy, training youth in data science and software development
• Government-led negotiations aimed at bringing tech and logistics jobs to Jamaica

“We saw the change in technology coming and the impact it would have,” Holness said.