Jobs being shed, fresh recruitment stopped
Apparel manufacturers are adopting alternative measures, including shedding manpower, to stay in business in the prevailing tumultuous situation in the country.
As part of the measures the manufacturers were adjusting their costs in the wake of the new wage structure announcement by stopping any fresh recruitment and cutting the existing manpower, sources said.
The readymade garment (RMG) makers were also pressing the workers to work overtime mainly to ensure timely shipments and thus retain the business as the buyers already started moving to other competitor countries, the sources also said.
“There is no fresh recruitment in many of the manufacturing units following a fall in orders mainly due to the political turmoil,” said Mr Reaz-bin-Mahmood, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), while talking to the FE Wednesday.
Moreover, a good number of factories remained closed for more than 15 days in the current month following the labour unrest over wage hike, he said. How the manufacturers would recruit more manpower as they were unable to run their business, he posed a question.
Citing the October export data, he said orders fell in the recent times due to the worsening overall situation in the country including political instability and labour unrest.
Md Hatem, vice president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said: “Some have opted for running their units with the existing manpower. And many others have decided not to go for any fresh recruitment at the seventh grade level.”
“We’re passing through a very crucial and transitional period, especially after the Tazreen Fashions and Rana Plaza tragedies that brought the safety and compliance issues to the fore,” said Mr Abdus Salam Murshedy, managing director of Envoy Group.
At such a time the political turmoil also put a negative impact on the overall business as it was disrupting the smooth production in factories, he said.
Though the factories remain open during any political programmes like general strike and blockade enforced by different political parties, the supply chain is disrupted, he said.
“Due to the present situation, many of us are reducing manpower and trying to balance the man-machine ratio by raising the workers’ efficiency level, mainly to maintain competitiveness,” he added.
However, labour leaders alleged that the manufacturers were opting to reduce manpower by dismissing a large number of workers in line with their cost-cutting and profit-making policy.
Mr Sirajul Islam Rony, president of Bangladesh Jatiya Garments Sramik Karmachari League, said about 1,000 to 1,200 workers were dismissed in the last two weeks over allegations that they had been involved in the recent unrest.
“The manufacturers are dismissing workers while they are also stopping fresh recruitment leaving many of the workers unemployed,” he said.
The closed factories that were re-opening mostly dismissed workers and also provided them with termination benefits while some of the others paid no such benefits, he added.
Workers were now becoming worried over such dismissal and implementation of the new wage structure, he said.
However, the BKMEA leader said about five to seven factories in Narayanganj served termination notices on about 1,300 workers over their alleged involvement in the recent labour unrests.
Some of the apparel manufacturers said the dismissal was not part of the cost-cutting measure; rather it was done to bring discipline in the sector.
When asked, BGMEA acting president SM Mannan Kochi said any factory could dismiss its workers as per the labour law on payment of termination benefits.
“But we fear many of the factories, especially the small and medium category ones, might opt to shed manpower to maintain their capability following the wage hike,” he added.
Regarding overtime, Mr Hatem said workers in many factories were directed to complete the manufacturing work on time to minimise the cost of production.
Mr Fazlul Hoque, former BKMEA president, said workers were working overtime to ensure timely shipment and avoid air delivery following the disruptions in production caused by confrontational politics and shutdown of factories due to the labour unrests.
On November 02 the ministry of labour in a gazette notification allowed more than two hours of overtime for the garment owners until April next.
-With The Financial Express input
