Low labor productivity in the country’s export-oriented garment industry has long been a major and much-discussed challenge for the growth of this sector, but there is no visible progress in creating a workforce. qualified work.

Although a few governmental and non-governmental organizations are trying to improve the skills of workers, their initiatives are not enough. The efforts of industrialists are also insufficient.

According to 2020 data from the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), the average productivity of the garment workforce is lower in Bangladesh than all of its competitor countries except Cambodia.

Data shows that the annual productivity level per worker in Bangladesh is $ 10,400, while it is $ 12,700 in Vietnam, $ 15,800 in India, and $ 23,800 in China.

Those concerned claim that lack of training, low wages, lack of nutritious food, unsanitary living conditions and lack of a suitable working environment for female workers are among the main reasons for the low productivity of Bangladeshi workers. .

Analysts say Bangladeshi clothing products are not fetching the desired price in the international market. On top of that, there are fears that Bangladesh may lose duty-free export facilities in many countries after it is recognized as a developing country around 2026.

The changing trend of traditional working style due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the widespread use of AI and robotic technology in production automation, could also be a vital challenge for our garment industry.

There is no alternative to product diversification and increased productivity if the sector is to survive in the long term, experts say.

Professor Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished member of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told The Business Standard: “The sector will face new pressures if it cannot increase the productivity of labor and capital in the context of Bangladesh’s exit from LDC status and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In this case, a negative impact can be created.

According to those concerned, Bangladesh’s weak position in labor productivity, despite being one of the major garment exporters in the world, has become a reality as the measures taken to improve the situation in this regard are insufficient.

Government officials and industry insiders said there had been many plans to address the issue, but very little preparatory work had been done.

Nazma Akter, union leader and executive director of the Awaj Foundation, said: “Workers learn from their tasks on the job after joining as a helper. The training they receive through government or donor initiatives is not sufficient.

In addition, workers cannot afford to eat nutritious food due to low wages, which is another reason for their low productivity, she added.

Kalpana Akter, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity (BCWS), blamed the lack of proper training as well as low wages for the productivity lag.

She added that the lack of a favorable environment for women in the workplace and the lack of needs-based and institutional training are at the root of the low productivity rate in the country.

Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, Managing Director of Fatullah Fashion and Vice President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said: “Mental health, nutritional deficiencies, family problems and low living standards of workers are reducing their productivity.

He admitted, however, that the authorities had failed to take the necessary steps over the past four decades to increase worker productivity alongside increased clothing exports.

Government initiatives mainly on paper

The National Productivity Organization (NPO) offers a two to three day training course for mid-level management of factories. However, it is not enough to increase the rate of productivity.

This government body calculates the productivity rate at the national level, but it still does not have sectoral data in this regard.

The Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP) project, managed by the Ministry of Finance, trains garment and textile workers to upgrade their skills. Mainly funded by foreign donors, the project has so far trained 1.5 lakh of workers. However, there are questions among those concerned about the effectiveness and transparency of their program.

Some NGOs offer training to increase the productivity of workers in the country, but it is also insufficient.

The National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) was established in 2019 to work at the political level to improve the skills of workers in all sectors of the country.

The organization started working in 12 sectors, including the garment and textile sectors. Its role is to set the needs-based training program according to the real needs that would be implemented by other governmental and non-governmental organizations.

However, according to those concerned, the skills development program for the garment sector under the program set by the NSDA has not yet started.

Md Quamruzzaman, director of NSDA, told TBS: “The implementation of our program at the plant level has not yet started. Initiatives have been taken to study the skills gap and demand in factories.

Union leaders say the desired success in skills development or worker productivity cannot be achieved through isolated programs at government or private level. They emphasize the implementation of an integrated curriculum.

Union leader Nazma Akter believes that all of the work should be initiated by the government.

Shahidullah Azim, Vice President of BGMEA, said: “In many countries, including Vietnam and Cambodia, the government is providing all the training to upgrade the skills of workers. The government here should also take appropriate initiatives.

Initiatives by industry owners are also inadequate

Initiatives taken by industry owners to increase productivity through skills development and other measures are also insufficient.

The BGMEA-run university offers courses such as fashion styling, but it does not have a program for workers to increase their skills.

The organization has announced the creation of an innovation center for the relatively advanced part of the workforce, including middle managers, but it is not yet operational.

Besides the SEIP project, other projects implement programs aimed at improving the skills of workers. There are also programs aimed at alleviating malnutrition among garment workers. These programs operate for the most part with donor funding. However, these are also not sufficient to meet real needs.

However, clothing owners said many unskilled workers were learning through in-house training and work assignments.

Abdullah Hil Rakib, Director of BGMEA, said: “Some factories train unskilled workers through in-house training centers and recruit them later. In addition, workers are learning the functions of modern, automated machines day by day.

Economist Dr Nazneen Ahmed said: “In the past, the country produced cheap clothes that didn’t require a lot of skills. But now it will be difficult to survive in the market without producing high-value products using high-tech machinery. That’s why we have to get out of the traditional mindset. “

Four decades ago, when the first garments for export appeared in the country, more than a hundred workers and mid-level managers were sent to South Korea for training through an initiative by Desh Garments. Many of the trained people later became factory owners.

However, there have been very few examples of such foreign training for local workers since then.

Shahidullah Azim from BGMEA said: “At first, Bangladesh had to do training abroad because it lacked experience. We don’t need it anymore.

“However, when high-tech machines are brought into factories, the relevant foreign companies come to Bangladesh and train the workers,” he said.

Abdullah Hil Rakib said: “There are 17,000 workers in my factory. I train workers with technology and machines for my own benefit.

“About 70% of clothing exports come from 450 factories which are ahead in terms of worker training. The remaining 30% will also have to work in this regard,” he added.