Author- Mohammad Abdur Rouf, Executive Director, Dekko Accessories and Agami Accessories Ltd.
‘’To sustain long-term growth and global competitiveness, Bangladesh’s RMG sector must invest in developing local leadership.’’
The ready-made garment (RMG) industry is the backbone of Bangladesh’s economy, contributing significantly to export earnings and employment. Despite its labour-intensive nature, the industry struggles with the effective utilization of skilled manpower, leading to inefficiencies in productivity and quality. Bangladesh’s Ready-Made Garments (RMG) sector is the second-largest exporter of garments globally. The industry plays a vital role in the country’s economy, accounting for over 80% of total export earnings and employing around 4 million workers.

Even though, becoming the most revenue-generating industry in the country and with remarkable growth, the sector still struggles with a noteworthy leadership gap at the top managerial level.
Some of the identified factors are:
In the mid 80’s and the early 90’s, when RMG sector was booming, this sector was not seen as an impressive career choice compared to banking, finance, IT or corporate jobs. As a result, many fresh graduates/post graduates focused on establishing their career in other sectors than RMG. That is when the initial loss of talent took place. Since the sector was new, the fresh graduates thought that this RMG sector would offer fewer defined paths for advancement.
Another reason is, the absence of local leadership. Many factories relied on foreign professionals for mid to top management roles. These foreign top-level managers hindered the growth of the local junior-level employees to gain expertise in various important areas. Training the local employees will be a significant threat for the foreign professionals to lose their designation in the long run. Hence, local employees from apprentice level were sidelined from top managerial roles, restricting their career progression.
In addition to that, RMG entrepreneurs should put their trust on the existing local leaders and should believe that they are capable enough to lead their organization & decision-making system. With proper authority & rationality, appointing local leaders will bring vast growth to the industry. If necessary, with specific training and grooming, entrepreneurs can ensure a long-term job sustenance to the local leaders in RMG sector. Trusting & empowering local talents will bring enormous benefits or the country’s workforce, will reduce the dependency on foreign professionals and keep more money circulating within the national economy.
Another area to point is, RMG entrepreneurs in Bangladesh should prioritize building leadership among the younger generation through organized training programs. This will ensure a sustainable talent in the sector and reduce the dependence on foreign professionals. This can be done in various ways, such as, by offering MTO or Future Leader initiatives, collaborating young professionals with experienced leaders to guide them in factory management or by partnering with universities and business schools to offer specialized RMG management courses. Training and development will create huge impact on long-term growth and self-reliance.
Last but not the least, most of the RMG businesses are family-oriented or family-business, for which the decision-making system was centralized and they have a slow adaptation to modern business practices. The sector should eliminate micro-management and adopt a structured corporate management system. With proper corporate governance, strong local leaders should be appointed to drive innovation and efficiency to have a sustainable business for the upcoming years. To sustain long-term growth and global competitiveness, Bangladesh’s RMG sector must invest in developing local leadership. The industry cannot afford to rely open-endedly on foreign professionals. By nurturing homegrown talent, embracing modern management, and creating a leadership-focused work culture, the sector can unlock its full potential for the next generation.