The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Readymade Garments Workers in Bangladesh: Living in Limbo

The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Readymade Garments Workers in Bangladesh: Living in Limbo

Md Aynul Hoque, Rajah Rasiah, Fumitaka Furuoka, Sameer Kumar, Md. Mahbubur Rahman Siddique, Sanjay Krishno Biswas
Copyright: © 2021 |Pages: 16
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-7480-5.ch010
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Abstract

This chapter demonstrates the readymade garments (RMG) industry workers' plight during COVID-19. The authors collected data through interviews with garment workers in Bangladesh. Online publications and research reports of relevant cases, web pages, and newspapers were examined. It reveals that RMG workers' living standards and earnings have fallen due to COVID-19. Due to the cancellation of foreign orders and deferred payment by foreign buyers, many factory owners shut down operations. They terminated a large number of workers by disputed approaches from March 2020 onward. This study also examines a few initiatives taken by different stakeholders, which seems inadequate, in favor of workers' rights. The financial institution can come up with a role in supporting the sector by loans and other financial supports.
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Introduction

The readymade garment (RMG) industry has emerged as the leading sector of Bangladesh’s economy. This sector’s export earnings contribute more than 10% of Bangladesh’s GDP and provided 84% of its foreign exchange earnings in the fiscal year 2018–2019 (World Bank 2019; BGMEA 2019). Besides, Bangladesh stood as the second-largest apparel exporter in the world. This sector plays a significant role in creating substantial employment opportunities for the female workforce, reducing poverty through socio-economic development, and earning foreign exchange in Bangladesh. The RMG sector also creates supportive backward and forward linkage business in the integrated supply chain. The RMG industry recruits many rural unskilled and semi-skilled workers, and most of the workers are being pushed due to the unemployment in their living places. Besides, the rural area’s work opportunities arise in the agricultural cycle interval since most citizens are involved in this sector. However, employment creation by the RMG industry is enormous by number, as depicted in table 1.

Table 1.
Number of RMG factories and contribution to employment
Fiscal YearNumber of Factories (Cumulative)Employment (Million)
2009-1050633.6
2010-1151583.6
2011-1258764
2012-1356004
2013-1442224
2014-1542964
2015-1643284
2016-1744824
2017-1845604
2018-1946214.5

Source: Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association - BGMEA1

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