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29,369 personnel lose jobs after Eid

14 Jul 2020 10:34 AM

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A complete of 29,369 workers, usually from the readymade garment sector, have dropped their careers since Eid-ul-Fitr in later Can as factory owners adopted cost-cutting actions on the pretext of insufficient work orders because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Industrial Police info, 29,369 staff have lost their careers from 165 industrial systems within its jurisdiction of six professional zones till July 9.

Labour leaders claimed that the actual number of laid-off employees would be three times higher than the state figure as there have been many factories out of your jurisdiction of the commercial police and several of the owners have been forced to leave jobs by themselves.

Economists said that the retrenchment of employees amid the COVID-19 spread created tremendous strain on the lives and livelihoods of a huge portion of the populace.

They said that the deprivation of jobless personnel might affect the economy and society negatively.

The info showed that out of the total 29,369 retrenched workers, 21,557 were from the factories listed with three garment and textile trade bodies.

Of the full total terminated staff, 18,916 are from 104 factories of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, 2,377 from 20 factories listed with Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association and 264 from five mills under Bangladesh Textile Mills Association.

The info showed that 5,719 employees were terminated from 18 factories under Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and 2,093 staff from 18 non-RMG units.

Bangladesh Institute of Expansion Studies senior exploration fellow Nazneen Ahmed told MODERN that the retrenchment of personnel in RMG and various other sectors affected the life span and livelihood of a large portion of population in the country badly.

She said that the work cut amid the spread of the brand new virus pushed the lives of the staff on the border of uncertainty because they are not getting any scope for alternative professions.

Nazneen said that the lives of the jobless personnel became challenging as much of them suffered from shortage of food.

Besides foodstuff, education and treatment of the members of the family of the jobless employees also posed a challenge in this time around of COVID-19, she said.

‘If the retrenched personnel do not get alternative jobs their deprivation will be increased and could bring about social instability,’ South Asian Network on Economic Modelling executive director Selim Raihan said.

He urged the government to bring the jobless employees under social security and to develop a system with the support of private sector players to guarantee the survival of the personnel through the crisis.

Selim also urged the factory owners to determine other options to cut costs without firing workers.

Towhidur Rahman, former general secretary of IndustriAll Bangladesh Council claimed that using the number of retrenched personnel would be multiple lakh. ‘It is normally inhuman that workers have been forced to keep their jobs with no lawful rewards amid the COVID-19 scourge,’ he said.

Towhidur Rahman demanded reinstatement of the employees who were fired illegally and lawful benefits for many who were retrenched for having less work orders.

Mohammad Hatem, primary vice president of Bangladesh Knitwear Makers and Exporters Association, said some of the personnel were being retrenched according to labour legislation as factories have been suffering from insufficient orders as a result of pandemic.