The H-2A system remains the most dependable method for specialty crop producers to find and implement its workforce. The Southeast continues to utilize a substantial amount of H-2A workers, as evidenced by 2024 statistics.
Florida is still the largest employer of H-2A labor despite a decrease of 9% from fiscal year 2023. Florida accounted for 47,396 positions or 12.3% of all certified positions. Florida’s 2024 mark is still a huge increase from the 39,064 positions certified in 2020.
Georgia increased its certified positions to 43,436, making it the second-largest employer of H-2A labor. Its total is 11.3% of all positions.
North Carolina is the fifth-largest employer with 27,532 certified positions.
The Southeast, which comprises Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, recorded 52,686 certified positions in 2024. That’s an increase from 47,199 in 2023 and a huge increase from the 35,332 positions recorded in 2020.
There were 384,900 H-2A certified positions in fiscal year 2024, an increase of more than 6,000 from the previous year. Certified positions have experienced a substantial growth from 2012 where there were less than 90,000.
The H-2A program allows U.S. employers or U.S. agents who meet specific regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs.