NEWS CLIPPINGS
ProthomAlo DhakaTribune1 DhakaTribune2 Samakal BusinessStandard
The Asian Center for Development is currently doing a workers survey in the RMG factories in Bangladesh. This is the randomized survey on RMG workers in 160 factories to understand the socio-economic conditions of the workers. This is a follow-up of the 2014 Survey of RMG workers in Bangladesh (the first RMG Workers Survey in Bangladesh) . For our previous report see RMG Workers Survey Report 2015
Objective of the Study
Considering the above background, the objective of the study will be to assess the current status of the sector for the followings:
- validate the relevance or appropriateness of current grade-wise job specification under a notion of changing production system (identify the changes appeared in job specifications and assess whether changes in the job specification is significant or not)
- develop a profile of its workforce, the workplace conditions and the safety standard [to what extent it has changed overtime]
- assess the living standard of the workforce, for example, education, health, food, and nutrition, etc. In addition, examine the role of the RMG sector is achieving the SDGs in Bangladesh.
Presentation of the Report
PDF of the presentation is here
Survey Photos
Due to COVID19 our survey on Garment Factories has been halted. Prior to this we completed survey on 65 factories and on 462 workers. Preliminary result is based on this sample. [Survey stopped on 18 March 2020]. We remain grateful to owners and workers of the factories who cooperated with us in the survey and wish their safe health.
We have a preliminary report based on incomplete survey. For more send your request to info@acdonline.org
2015
FIRST SURVEY ON GARMENT WORKERS 2015
The RMG is the most important sector of Bangladesh economy in terms of export proceeds, domestic value addition, and employment generation. Accounting for more than 80% of Bangladesh’s exports—the export level being 20% of GDP. In terms of total value addition from RMG it is close to the crop sector in Bangladesh. The sector employs nearly 3.5-4 million workers and it is a major formal employment sector in Bangladesh surpassing the number of employment in the public sector of Bangladesh.
While it is understood that the sector is the life-line of the Bangladesh economy, specially for the export industries it is still hard to define the social impact of the sector in terms of its contribution to reducing poverty, enhancing equity, or empowering women. This is because there is no systematic information on their workers. On the other hand, the sector suffers from an image problem due to accidents which at times engulf all the positive contributions of the industry.
This study is an attempt to develop an understanding on the social impact of the sector. In particular the study will attempt to identify impact of the garment industry in terms of
- impact on poverty and standard of living
- impact on health and education of the workers and their family members
- impact on women empowerment in the society
The study will also link-up contribution of the RMG sector in reducing poverty in Bangladesh and in terms of country’s achievement toward fulfilling the targets of MDGs.
Report is a available at AMAZON.COM
