Fear and despair over losing jobs stare hundreds of readymade garment (RMG) workers in their face these days as many factories are facing closure amid a storm triggered by compliance issue in the aftermath of Rana Plaza collapse, industry-insiders said.
In the last one year, more than 80,000 workers have become jobless following the closure of about 220 non-compliant garment factories in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Chittagong.
However, on a visit to different garment factories situated within the city, this correspondent found almost all of jobless workers still on the lookout for fresh jobs in any factory available.
There has been worry about the rise in the number of jobless workers, which does not augur well for the country's once-humming apparel industry that has been acclaimed the world over.
If the present trend continued, many in the industry apprehend, more industries would go bust and the crowd of jobless would swell by end of the current year.
"A large number of RMG workers are in fear and despair over losing their jobs as many of factories are going out of production in recent times," Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the apex platform of country's apparel-makers, told the FE correspondent.
He said since the collapse of Rana Plaza commercial complex, about 220 garment factories had so far been closed down failing to stand the compliance test, throwing more than 80,000 workers out of job.
Most of the factories now out of production are small-and medium-scale ones. They faced with challenges coming out of compliance issue, wage hike, and new work-order crises.
The compliance conditions were prescribed by the western consumer nations for prevention of recurrence of such tragedies as Rana Plaza collapse and Tazreen Fashions factory fire.
According to BGMEA, after the disastrous Rana Plaza collapse, Accord on Fire and Building Safety, a forum of 150 European retailers and brands, and Alliance for Bangladesh Workers' Safety, a platform of 26 US-based companies, started visiting the country's RMG factories for spot checks of working conditions as their consumers wouldn't use apparels made with sweated labour.
In the midst of the tempest stirred up by the issue, 21 non-compliant industrial units were compelled to close down their businesses.
Falling short on the compliance conditions and for increase in production cost, more than 200 RMG units' owners, of their own free choice, have so far shut down their businesses. On average, there were 400 workers employed in each.
Shafiqul Alam is one of the garment workers now out of job. "I was a swing operator at Omi Apparel Ltd at Malibagh. But in recent times, I lost my job for closure of the factory," he says.
He said after losing his job he knocked at many of garment factories several times for a job, but to no avail.
Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, managing director of Evince Group, said in recent times they don't seek fresh recruitment due to drop in new work orders by 50 per cent year-on-year basis.
Every year their fresh recruitment growth was 15 per cent, but now new recruitment totally halted, he said.
Speaking on the issue, President of Bangladesh National Garment Workers- Employees League Sirajul Islam Rony also echoed such rues. He said 80,000-82,000 RMG workers lost their jobs and were now passing hard days as they have not found new sources of income yet.
"Many of the factories are running, but in the last one year, a large number of workers have been dismissed due to new wage scale implementation and drastic fall in export orders.
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