During the past decade, the composition of the workforce in Bangladesh’s garment sector has noticeable transformations, especially in the aspect of women’s participation. A new study of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) will highlight this, reporting that the proportion of women workers in the garment industry has dropped from 56% in 2014 to 53% in 2023. The once-lauded sector for being predominantly women-driven now finds itself struggling with a new imbalance in gender.
The findings were released at an annual development conference of BIDS held at the Lakeshore Hotel in Dhaka. Research Director of BIDS Dr. Kazi Iqbal presented the study entitled, “Technology Upgradation of the RMG Industries in Bangladesh,” explaining the multifaceted reasons for this trend.
Transformation Across Business Segments
While women workers are leaving sectors like jacket-making, their numbers increase in sectors, such as home textiles and woven. These movements reflect the change in demand for labor brought about by automation and technological changes, evolving production dynamics, and so on across sectors.
Women workforce always belonged to more than 80% of the overall workforce during the infancy years of the readymade garment (RMG)-sector. They were more labor-intensive in terms of job responsibilities in factories. But, this trend is now changing with generation-with generation, the second generation is not interested in the physical-intensive jobs. This combined reluctant attitude has given rise to a huge gap in production as mechanization of production increases with hollowing out of traditionally female spheres.
The impact of automation on jobs
The progressive adaptation towards automation in the RMG sector has brought transformations to the workforce dynamics. It has made some job positions redundant-like machine operators and their helpers, as stated in the study. For every $1 million, investment made in advanced machinery, an average of 2.15 to 4.13 jobs are eliminated. Although manual employment has been replaced in a few areas by automation, it has, however, opened areas for particular specialized technical jobs as well as occupations in the operation of machines.
Interestingly, the study otherwise reflected gender-biased technological transitions that have left a great number of women workers. Different jobs, including machine operators, have been automated and there are several fewer spaces left for women in that area.
The Role of Supervisors and Management
With all these changes, while the number is not significantly reduced in supervisory and managerial placements, that reduction in the total number of garment workers, coupled with fewer females present in higher leadership places, raises the need for specific initiatives toward gender equity in this emerging industry.
Challenges After Post-LDC Graduation
To make matters worse, the nation is set to graduate from Least Developed Country (LDC) status in the near future, and already this has created a lot of complication for the garment sector. Dr. Monzur Hossain, another Research Director at BIDS, discussed some findings on the likely impacts of this change.
Now, due to European Union trade policies for LDCs, Bangladesh enjoys preferred tariffs – 4 percent and 12 percent subsidized tariffs on fabric imports and finished apparel, respectively. The privileges are expected to end after the graduation from LDC. This appears as a 9.6% tariff on apparel exports to the EU.
Such a tariff could have deep cuts. According to the study forecast, Bangladesh may face a decline of almost 10.8% in garment export by the year 2031. This includes a loss of 7%-14% in major markets. Such a downfall will adversely influence GDP, which is projected to contract by 0.38% in the situation of developing countries levying these tariffs.
Declining Female Participation in Manufacturing
Not just in the RMG sector but also in the whole manufacturing industry, there has been a decline in the proportion of females. All of this has been blamed on many different aspects, including limited opportunities for women to access high-growth sectors and the structural changes in industrial dynamics, as explained in another BIDS study by Research Associate Jayed Bin Satter.
The lower part of female business leaders, especially in the garment industry, continues to pin-point the obstacles that women encounter when they attempt to climb the professional ladder. This will take an ample amount of time to be built up towards changes into a more anticipatory industrial environment.
Union Empowerment
Another key finding was derived from a BIDS study on manufacturing workers, conducted by Farhin Islam, a Research Associate at BIDS. While nominal wages in the sector seem very stagnant, unionization improves aspects of working conditions and benefits.
Unionization is particularly significant for female workers because it empowers them with respect to decision-making power within their families. However, the factory-level unions can hardly be said to be effective enough in taking on a broader level agenda for women empowerment.
Way Forward
This emphasizes research for the reasons and establishes a holistic approach to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth in the garment sector in Bangladesh. There are policy and the government’s mandate to address specific gender concerns caused by technological transition along with demand-oriented training programs that will prepare female workers for futures with new skill requirement. Not only that, as the country prepares for an LDC graduation to have income enlargement effects with higher tariffs, much strategic approach is required to offset such losses from export earnings. Strengthening trade negotiations, exploring new markets, and investing in value-added production should also offset possible losses.
Up to the end, it is vital to have enhanced inclusive process culture along with the systems that support and develop female leadership in order to keep the sector competitive while ensuring its classic legacy of being known as a pioneer in economic empowerment of women. Under these strategies, the RMG sector can be made flexible to cope with the different global and domestic changes while continuing to be a major pillar in the economic growth and social progress of Bangladesh.
Reference:https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/female-workforce-garment-industry-slips-53-3771696
