Women's Employment - United Nations Research Institute for Social ...

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Female employment under export-propelled industrialization is thus important to endow women workers with basic education and vocational training (including computer literacy). Female-oriented investment in human resource development may therefore be the most dependable deterrent to technological redundancies. Alternatively, with the changing nature of national competitive advantage, a mismatch may emerge between the skill and quality endowments of female labour and the skill and quality endowments demanded. Under these circumstances, if certain supply-side constraints are not addressed through public policy interventions (e.g., in the areas of skill development and health care), female employment in the export sector cannot be maintained and enlarged — in absolute or relative terms. One also needs to take into account the fact that the level of export-supported female employment is vulnerable to fluctuating global demand. This may be reinforced by the “footloose” nature of foreign investment (one of the major sources of female employment), which may shift production locations in search of cost-effective sources of labour, usually for their “old” technologies. While global demand may be an exogenous variable (predicated largely on the economic activity rate in the developed countries), the extent to which an exporting country can create a niche for itself depends on the availability of a quality workforce within a conducive policy framework. It is thus important to look beyond the immediate benefits accruing to women workers in Bangladesh through increased access to wage employment as a result of trade expansion. A new set of issues with far-reaching implications for the industrial employment of women in the context of economic globalization requires attention. While women’s short-term material interests are served by such employment opportunities, fulfilment of longer term strategic gender interests may only be evaluated in terms of continued access to such opportunities in the future, coupled with enhanced gender equity in the labour market. 2. The nature of the study a. Objective and scope The primary objective of the present chapter is to assess the adjustment dynamics of the export-oriented manufacturing sector in Bangladesh in view of the opportunities and constraints created by changes in technology and the economy. This line of investigation has been pursued in the concrete context of the apparel industry in 221
Women’s employment in the textile manufacturing sectors of Bangladesh and Morocco Bangladesh, which, with a predominantly female labour force, has experienced significant growth in the recent past. An attempt has been made to identify structural changes in Bangladesh’s manufacturing sector, and in apparel in particular, and their implications for the burgeoning female labour force. In this context, the chapter examines the firm-level behaviour of ready-made garment and knitwear producers and its implications for the welfare of women workers. Apart from the domestic factors underpinning the prospects for female industrial employment growth, the analysis also considers the impact of global demand for textiles. Finally, the chapter highlights the micro-macro linkages of public policies that affect the sustainability of female industrial employment in Bangladesh. b. Data and methodology The study builds on analysis of the available empirical information as well as new evidence on the ready-made garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh. In particular, sectoral estimates generated by two independent research studies have been adapted to trace the inter-temporal changes in operational behaviour in the RMG sector. Projections prepared at the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Textiles, as well as data maintained by the Bangladesh Garment Exporters and Manufacturers Association and Export Promotion Bureau, have been extensively used in the study. Sources of secondary data also include various publications of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Primary data on the RMG sector were collected for the present study through micro surveys and debriefing of key informants. A survey carried out in February 1997 elicited information on employment structure and wage rates for different types of jobs in the country’s RMG industry. To generate the required data, a checklist was completed by the chief executives of 10 RMG units of average size (i.e., approximately 400 workers). Information provided by the chief executives was cross-checked through focus group discussions involving 126 randomly selected workers (mostly female) in the sample RMG units. c. Structure The chapter is divided into six sections. Section II analyses the general features of female employment in Bangladesh’s manufacturing sector. Section III takes a closer look at the growth trends in the country’s apparel industry and their implications for 222
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Women’s Employment in the Textile
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This United Nations Research Instit
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Acknowledgements Many people have b
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notwithstanding the inertia of the
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Carol Miller is a policy analyst on
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xii VII. Contribution of different
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Introduction 1 Introduction 1 Shahr
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Introduction Table 1: Basic indicat
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Introduction women have been tradit
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Introduction The chapters on Bangla
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Introduction occurs, on average, at
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Introduction women workers related
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Introduction in low-income countrie
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Introduction by repaying their “d
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Introduction participate in labour
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Introduction their bargaining power
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Introduction processing zones hypot
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Introduction IV. The case studies T
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Introduction experience in garment
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Introduction V. Conclusion Although
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Introduction improved technology. T
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Introduction References Afsar, R. (
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Introduction Household Power Relati
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Wage discrimination by gender in Mo
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Gender and employment in Moroccan t
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Gender dimensions of labour migrati
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Table 1: Total number of male and f
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Becoming a garment worker 5Becoming
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Becoming a garment worker garment w
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Becoming a garment worker Table 1:
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Becoming a garment worker 2. “I e
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Becoming a garment worker out that
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Becoming a garment worker being. Th
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Becoming a garment worker support t
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