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Dearth of skilled workers to hit garment growth

Warn industry leaders

Refayet Ullah Mirdha
The ready-made garment industry, the sector that accounts for 75 percent of the country's exports, is facing an acute shortage of skilled labour, with industry leaders warning the problem will seriously hamper future growth.
According to figures from two of the country's major trade associations the sector is now facing a 25 percent shortfall of skilled workers and it will take several years to set up courses and institutions to provide the necessary'human resources.
The alarming figure was revealed in a study by the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufactures and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and backed up by the Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
According to factory' owners the dearth of skilled workers is due to several factors. They many experienced women workers quit the factories after they marry in order to raise their families. Women make up 80 percent of the RMG workforce.
Skilled men on the other hand often use their solid employment records as a springboard to work abroad.
Labour leader said the willingness of skilled workers to leave the trade reflected the lack of social recognition of garment jobs, low wages and poor working conditions.
Another factor causing the shortage has been the rapid growth of the industry. In the 10 months to April 30th exports of RMG products were up 15 percent as opposed to what it has
been a year earlier and factory owners are reporting continued robust orders.
Recently, owners of Noman Group, Standard Group, Nassa Group and Viyellatex Group, few of the country's largest RMG exporters, announced major recruitment drives in order to hit export targets. All have complained that they are not getting skilled manpower for running their factories.
Nurul Islam, Managing Director and Chairman of Noman Group, said
the company was seeking to employ an additional 8,000 staff. Although many of these position are for nonskilled and semi-skilled workers many of the key roles need to be filled by skilled workers.
"I am really feeling the shortage of skilled manpower in the local labour market," Nurul Islam said.
"I have had to hire highly skilled workers from Pakistan and the Philippines to run my factories," he said.
President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez said the dropout rate of garment workers is 35 percent a year.
He said the dropout rate is higher in the case of female workers as they go back to their family life after marriage. At present, of the total number of 2.4 million garment workers 80 percent are women workers, he said.
Against this backdrop both BGMEA and BKMEA have set up several trainingcentres
The BGMEA runs 6 training centres in Dhaka, Gaibandha, Bogra and other districts to train up to 120 workers per month in each centre.
“We are going to set up three more training centres in Mymensingh, Sirajganj and Tangail this month to train more workers for the factories," Parvez said.
Parvez said they have a target of exporting RMG products worth USS25 billion a year by 2013, but this will only be possible if skilled manpower, political stability and smooth supply of gas and power in the factories can be secured.
BKMEA opened a centre in Rangpur last March to train up 120 workers a month and is looking to set up additional centres at Savar.
reefat@thedailystar.net