Episode #19: Solving Labor Shortages: Recruitment from Puerto Rico with Clay Martin of Isla Talent
In this episode of U.S. Manufacturing Today, Clay Martin, founder of Isla Talent, shares how his company is helping U.S. manufacturers overcome labor shortages by recruiting skilled, motivated workers from Puerto Rico—no visas or red tape required. Drawing from his Peace Corps experience and background in agriculture and recruiting, Clay explains how Puerto Rican talent offers a fast, legal, and culturally aligned alternative to the unpredictable H-2B visa program. He highlights the importance of employer-provided housing and transportation, the range of industries benefiting from this labor pool, and how this citizen-based solution is helping businesses scale quickly and sustainably. The conversation also touches on stagnant wages in manufacturing, reshoring, and the launch of Isla’s new healthcare recruitment initiative, which aims to connect U.S. hospitals with qualified nurses from Puerto Rico.
Links
- Isla Talent Website
- Clay Martin on LinkedIn
- Navigating Trump 2.0
- Revitalizing U.S. Manufacturing
- Sign Up on the Veryable Platform
Timestamps
- 00:00 One-Way Ticket to Puerto Rico
- 00:09 Recruiting from Puerto Rico: No Red Tape
- 00:28 Addressing the Labor Shortage Myth
- 00:40 Housing Requirements for Workers
- 01:06 Citizen-Based Solutions and Increased Interest
- 01:51 Showcasing Job Opportunities
- 02:05 Urgent Labor Needs and Quick Solutions
- 02:33 Challenges in Manufacturing Wages
- 02:46 Expanding to Healthcare Recruiting
- 03:04 Innovative Solutions for Labor Needs
Episode Transcript
Matt Horine: [00:00:00] Welcome back to U.S. Manufacturing Today. The podcast powered by Veryable, where we talk with the leaders, innovators, and change makers, shaping the future of American industry, along with providing regular updates on the state of the industry, the changing landscape policies and more.
Today we're unpacking a pivotal moment in U.S. trade policy, global negotiations, and the signals that the U.S. manufacturers can't afford to miss. And in this episode, we're joined by Clay Martin, the founder of Isla Talent, a company that connects mainland manufacturers with skilled, motivated labor from Puerto Rico without the red tape of Visa programs.
As manufacturers across the country struggle with persistent challenges, many turn to temporary solutions like the H two B Visa program, but Clay's approach flips the script offering a legal fast and culturally aligned workforce that's already U.S. citizens. As an alternative, we'll dig into the key differences between H2B Labor and this Puerto Rican solution.
How manufacturers can tap into this underutilized pipeline and why Isla talent is helping businesses rethink [00:01:00] what sustainable labor strategy really looks like. Clay, welcome to the show.
Clay Martin: Thanks, Matt.
Matt Horine: We're excited to have you today and so I thought we'd start you tell us a little bit about your company and your background
Clay Martin: Before... before I get into that, I just wanna thank you for taking my LinkedIn message. I do a lot of LinkedIn work and shoot my shot with things, so I really appreciate you being receptive to that.
Matt Horine: Yeah, absolutely. I, I, Hey, look, it's a karma thing. I do a lot of LinkedIn work as well, so I try to answer as many as I send.
Clay Martin: Good. Good. I appreciate that. So yeah, my name's Clay Martin. I'm the owner of Isla Talent Founder. Started my career with the Peace Corps outta college. I was always into Spanish and Latin American culture, and I've spent four years working alongside tribes in Latin America, in Ecuador and Panama. So I was an agriculture volunteer helping out indigenous people with farming and in, and community tourism and things like that.
So I did have a machete that was kinda wild. Slept a lot in my hammock, and honestly it was. What are the best [00:02:00] experiences of my life? One are the most valuable experiences of my life.
Matt Horine: No, that's great. Well, thank you for your service in the Peace Corps. I know we talked about that a little bit before you came on the show, and in the spirit of it, I think JFK started the Peace Corps, right? I think he said the quality and spirit of our own society must justify and support our efforts abroad. So it's a really big important thing for our foreign policy and just putting our best image out there in the world. So thank you for your service in the Peace Corps.
Clay Martin: When I got back from the Peace Corps Matt, the first job that I got was managing dairy farm workers in upstate New York.
So I was in my late twenties and it was perfect job for someone, or at least for me, coming right outta the Peace Corps 'cause it gave me some flexibility and a little adventure. And. I would travel around to these farms in upstate New York and be like a translator and a recruiter. And the majority of the people that I was collaborating with or recruiting and translating for were migrant workers from Mexico.
But later on, my boss decided to start recruiting people from Puerto Rico because their U.S. citizens, there's no visas [00:03:00] needed. There's the paperwork, it's all legit. And so that's how I got involved with the recruiting from Puerto Rico thing. That lasted about, I don't know, maybe two years working in upstate New York, and then I moved back to Ohio where my parents are from, and I gave the whole corporate recruiting job an opportunity, a chance, and I only lasted six months.
Definitely wasn't for me to be honest. Tucking in my shirt every day, having a little cubicle. So thankfully I got laid off and I was in my early thirties and I think I had like just moved outta my parents' place. One of those situations, like I was living in my parents' basement and I'd had my own apartment shortly after I got laid off and I was like, oh my gosh, I gotta figure out my life.
Like I've been unemployed for a while and I just started thinking about it. And because I had experienced recruiting from Puerto Rico, I decided that I would, I did a little research about the H-2B program and how erratic it is and how hard, and all the red tape. It was one of those things where I started a business overnight, uh, recruiting job seekers from Puerto Rico for the manual labor in, in manufacturing [00:04:00] industry.
Matt Horine: Yeah, that's a really interesting backstory and I think there's a lot of clarifying moments all of us have in our early careers. I've certainly through a few of those. At some point it does come into focus in those experiences seem to funnel into this very specific pipeline and like you mentioned. It's very different than the H-2B Visa process or traditional manufacturing hiring.
And I think what we get from our audience is most way, most businesses are trying to find ways to be creative, to solve a piece of the puzzle. There's never a one shot solution that fixes everything for everybody. Which is, you know what? We find it Veryable to be true all the time. And with that, Puerto Rico is such a powerful and yet overlooked labor pool potential.
We talked about it and I think I've, I passed my quiz when we first talked about it. The only difference between the Puerto Rican people and U.S. citizens on the mainland is they don't vote in presidential elections. Is it? So a lot less red tape, and that's the extent of my knowledge. So what, what kind of skill sets and industries have you seen Puerto Rican talent thrive in and how that can shape?
Clay Martin: Mostly, like I [00:05:00] was saying before, it's mostly been manual labor and manufacturing, so a lot of landscaping, construction, hospitality, and then of course manufacturing. And contrary to what a lot of people believe, Puerto Rico does have a pretty large, it's pretty big in the manufacturing industry, especially.
Pharmaceuticals and a lot of people in Puerto Rico, they wanna work in that industry, not only in Puerto Rico, but when they come here. So we also get a lot of welders, a lot of forklift drivers, mechanics, stuff like that. Some skilled labor, but then also entry level labor. People that just work, wanna work on the line.
It's been quite a ride. I, when I started my first business recruiting from Puerto Rico, I literally bought a one-way ticket and flew to Puerto Rico, rented a purple Jeep. Unlimited time, just like I just rented it with. I didn't even know when I turned it back. And I flew my best friend in town from wherever he was.
He was like getting his PhD. And I said, I'm starting this business. I need you to help me build a talent pool in Puerto Rico. And we spent a month literally. [00:06:00] Traveling around to communities and towns and doing job fairs and that's how I built my, my reputation in the talent pool.
Matt Horine: You've covered a broad range of skill sets there, and I think we can really dive into some of the key differences between that and H-2B labor.
What are the major differences between those types of Visa workers? The things that we see, especially in today's environment and your solution?
Clay Martin: My tagline, Matt, is recruiting from Puerto Rico. No visas needed, no red tape, but that's the biggest thing.
H-2B. It takes a long time. It's a legal process. Visas are involved, fees are involved. A lottery is involved. A lot of unknown what could happen with the government. Immigration, I've heard, I'm sure you've heard tons of stories. Companies thinking they're gonna get their workers, then they get stuck at the border. Anything expecting their workers to start in March.
They don't start until June because something happened. Maybe they don't get their workers and they invest all this money. So that was a lot about H-2B. And also to my knowledge, [00:07:00] H-2B workers are tied to one company, their visa. Specific to one company. They can't just decide to go and work somewhere else.
My services or my program recruiting from Puerto Rico, there are, there is no red tape, there is no visa. It's, I literally, if a company called me today and said I need 10 workers, it's very realistic that I can have 10 workers working for them arriving probably within a week. It takes me maybe 48, 72 hours to identify the talent, interview them, vet them.
Then we look into flying them from Puerto Rico to the location. So it's a very quick process. And then no regulations, there's no, is it called the prevailing wage? There's no prevailing wage H-2B program. They have to make a certain amount of money. So yeah, essentially it's no red tape. That's the tagline.
Matt Horine: That's a great tagline 'cause it's pretty self-explanatory. And sometimes the most obvious point is just that. And I think one of the things that you really highlighted and brought to the forefront here is a myth that [00:08:00] we hear all the time about a labor shortage. And our opinion about that is it's an issue of labor access.
Meaning there may be those manufacturers that are in rural parts of a state somewhere, or they may not have access to. Demographically a large group of people, or maybe it's a different kind of job and people need to build more flexibility in their operations and be more open-minded about it instead of going to the last resort, which is saying there's no options and we have to utilize an H-2B Visa to bring people in to fill a gap because there's plenty of American workers. I've seen it over the past couple weeks, especially as the job numbers have shifted. I think the April made numbers where there was a massive shift in foreign born workers in filling full-time roles and a spike in native born workers that were filling full-time roles.
And so this. These roles have been there, and I think people have had their eyes open to not only the H-2B, but also H-1B. There's a lot to really break down from that. One other thing, question that came up from a cost and compliance and cultural standpoint. Outside of [00:09:00] those obvious points, beyond the obvious, what should manufacturers know beyond the legality and logistics?
What are some of the less obvious benefits your clients experience?
Clay Martin: The one thing I do require and my clients to provide the housing for the workers to come over. It doesn't have to be free, but. I do require my clients to provide furnished housing with basic appliances and kind of household needs. Also transportation to get to and from work, and then also the original flight to get from Puerto Rico to their location and all of that you can deduct from their paychecks.
Even the hope is that you help set them up. And then after they've been there for a couple months, six months, whatever, a year, then they get their own place and then it's ends up being sustainable. That's what we all want. We all want sustainable labor, and I think recruiting from Puerto Rico is a great option because it's people looking for a better opportunity.
Matt Horine: Yeah, that really fits the narrative a lot more than what we see in the news cycle or people in the immigration debate. It's this shared sense of American identity and values that play [00:10:00] into kind of the onboarding and integration their skin in the game. That's something that, that people are looking to take that step, and that's great that companies step up and do that, but also that ramp to, they'll find their own place, they'll find their own transportation.
These are things that I think a lot of times, and I'll just go out on a limb and say this with the Visa program. Very transactional in the sense that there's a wage rate, paid it's fees to the government. There's not a lot of support beyond when they're under the same roof, when they're under the employer's roof.
And so that kind of really solidified pipeline and support system seems like it's a critical path for your company. Shifting gears a little bit, we talk a lot on this show about reshoring and building domestic resilience and reindustrialization. How does your model tie into that bigger movement and do you see Isla talent as part of that reindustrialization toolkit and potential?
Clay Martin: Yeah, absolutely. I love knowing that I'm assisting to bring talent from a U.S. territory and for U.S. citizens to come work and support businesses in need, [00:11:00] communities in need that are, that rely on businesses. Then more importantly, a lot of these workers will send money back to Puerto Rico, which is a U.S. territory, and it goes back into our economy.
It's a beautiful thing. It's, it all goes full circle, and some of these workers will stay permanently on the mainland, but some go back to Puerto Rico and have more money than they could imagine making in Puerto Rico. Then they're, that's helping them build a better life in Puerto Rico. Maybe build a business, whatever it may be.
Matt Horine: Yeah, that's a really great point. It's something that came up in the one big beautiful bill about remittance, taxing, and currently not something that's taxed at all. The house had put it at 5% through reconciliation. It went down to 1%. It doesn't matter because the money has been taken offshore and it's not repatriated.
And to your point. Injecting it back into a local economy. That's part of the broader U.S. mainland territory is critical because manufacturing is local, right? They're just having the benefit of bringing that back to Puerto Rico. There's been a growing concern overall about H-2B visas in [00:12:00] manufacturing.
Do you think the tide is turning on that, or what are your overall thoughts on the market, and is that kind of why you see this niche playing out really well? It's what I would call a citizen-based solution.
Clay Martin: Yeah, H-2B is getting, it does seem to be getting more complicated and a lot of just more red tape, more unknown with the new political administration.
I have had a lot more, I've seen a significant increase in the interest of my services just because a lot of business owners are concerned about the way their labor force may go and, or more specifically the H-2B program where the country's gonna go with that, where the government's gonna go with that.
Matt Horine: Shifting to how it works, what does the process look like for a manufacturer that wants to work with Isla talent and how is it scalable across regions and facility types? I'm sure that once somebody starts, it grows a little bit and then follow up question on that one is out on a limb. We talk a lot about manufacturing on the show, but I'm sure this applies to multiple different industries as well.
Clay Martin: A typical rollout. I have a, a sales call with a potential client and I [00:13:00] tell them how we operate. We are a fee-based business, so I tell them our terms and then more importantly, I learn about the company. I learn if their company culture, but also their benefits are going to be attractive enough to attract talent from my talent pool.
I gather as much information as possible, uh, on that call if I decide to move forward, then. My client will identify the housing, when I say client, that businesses I work with. And then they'll also create like just a general job offer, job description, and I help consult on that and make sure they're not missing anything.
Try to get a video. I always try to get a video showcasing the nature of the job, the company website. And I basically create a little package and then, and then I send that over to my recruits and I, I have job fairs and do interviews. Present that to my recruits and try to find people that, that have applicable experiences and that might be a good fit.
Matt Horine: Seems like a pretty easy process as compared to going through the visa and approval process and all those things. To your point, I think the citizen based solution probably makes [00:14:00] the most sense. And as far as being a scalable process, are there companies that look at this from like a multi-facility perspective, or are they focused on one facility and keeping it contained to that?
Or how do they implement it organization-wide?
Clay Martin: I've worked with companies of all different sizes. Matt, I've recruited four employees for a company that's my minimum. I've recruited up to a hundred employees for a manufacturing company in Michigan, and they literally bought, and they bought an Air Force base and a motel to house the workers.
I've had companies reach out and say, if we don't get X amount of workers in the next three months, we will go out of business. And I'm like, I can provide you. Up to 30 workers in two weeks and they're flabbergasted. They don't even, they don't believe it's true. And, um, I feel great and confident that I can provide that.
I forgot the original question to add on that. I had a conversation with a potential client today. They do run like grain elevators and I think they have maybe five different locations and. They're like, Hey, we're missing revenue based on our production. If we can increase our production, we will increase our [00:15:00] revenue.
We do not have the labor. And that's music to my ears 'cause I know that I'm gonna be able to find them the talent. I know that the talent is gonna help increase their production, increase their revenue, help their business. And this representative of the company, she said, Clay. We need 30 workers and we wanna try six out at each location and see how it goes.
Because one location might be work out better than the other. And that's, I love that. I love that they're open-minded enough to know that, because she basically was telling me that she knows that. This isn't black and white. The services that I provide, placing talent isn't black and white. It could, whether people work out or not, it could depend on the weather in a town.
It could depend on their, the community. How open the community is. It could depend on their supervisors and the company, the specific culture of the local community or the local company. So. I love the fact that this company, this woman, was very open to, to trying it out and seeing what works in certain locations.
Matt Horine: No, that's exactly it. It's how is it [00:16:00] scalable in the sense that people can do this fairly rapidly and across larger organizations and Veryable. We know that the one number one capacity constraint. Operations is labor and one of the biggest challenges is missed revenue. We're in an environment where, you know, one of the great quotes from our show, we had a guest on recently said, 90% of my orders were from being able to confidently pick up the phone and know that I could source, quote, and fulfill their order.
And when people don't have that missing piece, especially on the labor side, it gets a little complicated and they start to miss opportunities. Big question for you. If you had five minutes with a policymaker or a plant manager, so two different folks. What would you say about fixing America's labor pipeline and how your solution fits into it?
Clay Martin: I would just say we need living wages. Number one, we need living wages all across the board for all different industries, especially the blue collar industries. Having a living wage letting, letting people know at a early age that these are great, great opportunities to, to grow a career in the manufacturing industry.
And then also be [00:17:00] open-minded. Don't put all your eggs in one basket like the H-2B program, like hiring locally. Be open to hiring U.S. citizens from Puerto Rico that do not need a visa, no red tape, no visas needed. So just having an open mind, and then also policy makers and economists just helping increase those wages.
Matt Horine: It's always funny to me because people will so openly talk about a labor shortage or a labor problem, or people not wanting to work, but nobody wants to address that. Wage rates have remained fairly stagnant in manufacturing for. Decades. And a lot of it is, you can tie that to globalization, you can tie that to the rising cost of living and other vaccines of life, but they have not kept pace.
And so people find other ways to explain it away. And what ends up happening is they find the hardest route. They commit to the hardest route. Like I'm gonna look at the most bureaucratic process of not hiring local, not using U.S. citizen based recruiting and keeping my wage rates suppressed. And talking about a labor shortage.
We see it all the time with people who want to grow, but they end up stepping in their own way from time to time. [00:18:00] What's next for Isla talent? I know you've got a couple of other things that are in the works. I would love to hear about that.
Clay Martin: The newest venture is recruiting nurses from Puerto Rico healthcare recruiting and nurse recruiting from Puerto Rico.
Same thing. No BS is needed. No red tape. A little bit more red tape 'cause nursing is a more regulated industry. But I've partnered up with someone who has extensive experience recruiting nurses from Puerto Rico. She is is a phenomenal partner and and woman, and so she has helped recruit hundreds of nurses for this, for hospitals in Missouri.
And so I brought her on my team and we are beginning to recruit nurses from Puerto Rico for hospitals all across the country. And that's something I'm very excited about, just as much as I am about supporting the manufacturing industry. Now we are recruiting nurses and healthcare workers from Puerto Rico.
Matt Horine: That's awesome. Sounds like something that kind of compound growth, uh, happens in multiple different verticals just by the nature of the common sense of the program.
Clay Martin: You had said this, I believe, on one of the calls we had. It's not like this concept is gonna [00:19:00] fix the labor issues in America, but I can guarantee you, Matt, that working with my business or a company like mine will fix a business's labor needs. It's not gonna fix all the bus. There's only three, 3 million people from Puerto Rico and the, the majority of 'em live in New York City actually. But there, this talent pool that I provide has significantly changed businesses for the better and the lucky ones are open to this avenue.
Matt Horine: Being open to opportunities and different ways of thinking is pretty critical in manufacturing and operations for sure. How can our listeners get in touch with you or start a conversation with you and your team?
Clay Martin: They can reach out to me on my www.recruitingpuertorico.com or they can reach out to me on LinkedIn. It's just my name, Clay Martin, and I'll give you the links to all that stuff.
Matt Horine: That's great. Clay, thanks for coming on today. A ton of great insights and love learning more about this pipeline.
Clay Martin: Alright, thanks Matt.
Matt Horine: To stay ahead of the curve and to help plan your strategy, please check out our [00:26:00] website at www.veryableops.com and under the resources section titled Trump 2.0, where you can see the framework around upcoming policies and how it will impact you and your business. If you're on socials, give us a follow on LinkedIn, X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram. And if you're enjoying the podcast, please feel free to follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and leave us a rating and don't forget to subscribe. Thank you again for joining us and learning more about how you can make your way.