“The workers with hearing impediment are dedicated and determined; they work twice as hard as the hearing staff,” said factory manager Norman Russell.

Store manager at the supermarket Althea Morgan, also had glowing remarks about the deaf employees, describing them as highly motivated and having the skills to come up with solutions to problems based on insights unique to their experience.

“We have never got a complaint about the deaf employees,” she said. “Our customers here are rather impressed that there is a deaf person on the front line”.

CEO of Jamaican Teas Limited John Mahfood explained his company's rationale for hiring from among the deaf: “We specifically recruit these persons because we know that they get extra preparation for the working world through places like the Jamaica Association for the Deaf and the Abilities Foundation.”

“Deaf employees that have been recruited through JAD or Abilities Foundation are better prepared for the working world and require less in the way of orientation than able-bodied young persons that are recruited out of high school,” Mahfood said.

Stavene Oakley, 25, is an employee at the supermarket. She has been working as a cashier for 10 months and says that interacting with customers daily, despite her hearing disability, has been the best aspect of her job so far. She finds communicating with customers quite easy, and uses creative ways to attend to their needs, leaving them often surprised that she is deaf.

In an interview by way of an interpreter, Oakley explains that, “There are limited job opportunities for members of the deaf community in Jamaica, and I am happy that Jamaican Teas is accommodating people like me.”