Apparel exports contribute almost 46 per cent to Sri Lanka’s total exports and nearly 80 per cent workforce in Sri Lankan apparel factories is of women. Experts feel that it is quite alarming to see that the apparel sector is experiencing a difficulty in filling vacancies even in the occupation category, like sewing operators, where women dominate. A research, ‘An Empirical Investigation of Labour Shortage in the Manufacturing Sector in Sri Lanka’ by Prof. Athula Ranasinghe, Sunimalee Madurawala, Dr. Jen Je Su and Thushara Senadeera funded by the Australia Awards Fellowship Programme 2016, Sri Lanakan newspaper ‘Daily Mirror’ published an article which highlights given below five reasons for this situation:
1. Women machine operators in Sri Lanka are facing derogatory term like ‘Juki girls’. Due to this low social recognition and the bad reputation of women workers, young women are reluctant to join the industry. The report also adds that this stems from safety concerns for females and exposure to sexual harassment and abuse resulting from poor infrastructure facilities (inadequate transport and housing near factories).
2. Mobility/proximity issues is a concern, especially for married and women with children. Due to their familial responsibilities, these women don’t want to migrate and work in urban areas or in the free trade zones, where many garment factories are located. Due to difficulty in finding safe accommodation, even single women are hesitant to live in urban areas
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3. Sectors like tourism and retail creating competition for apparel industry as these sectors are offering good wages. Not only that, good working environment in these industries also plays an important role in this regard.
4. With good education, now there are more options available for the younger generation. Their career aspirations have also changed. Instead of apparel factory’s ‘target-oriented hardworking machine operator jobs’, they seek for more prestigious computer-based jobs, where they can enjoy more flexibility and social interaction.
5. Looking to all these points, experts suggest that competitive salaries and creating better and pleasant working environments, giving more social recognition, more gender-sensitive working options and facilities (flexible working hours, working from home and work sharing, professionalization of jobs and creating clear career paths would help in attracting more women to the industry. Few of the factories are even running campaigns like ‘Women Go Beyond’, ‘Abhimani’.
