The garment sector in Bangladesh is facing a tumultuous period as a wave of factory closures continues to sweep across the country. Most recently, Unique Designers and Unique Washing & Dyeing, located in the Board Bazar neighborhood of Gazipur, announced their permanent closure. This decision has left at least 1,800 workers unemployed. While the owners have committed to settling all outstanding wages and legal benefits by July 27, these closures are reflective of a much larger, ongoing trend.
Industry data indicates that 457 factories across seven major industrial zones in Bangladesh have shut down permanently between August 2024 and June. Of these, 205 factories closed due to a lack of work orders, while 190 ceased operations because of severe financial strain. Other contributing factors include labor unrest, political instability, banking issues, shortages of raw materials, and energy deficits. Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, President of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries, explained that a shortage of orders evolved into a working capital crisis, preventing factories from opening letters of credit and thereby paralyzing production.
Amidst these economic struggles, laborers in South Asia face another looming threat: the rise of artificial intelligence and automation. In India, garment workers are being equipped with head-mounted cameras that record their movements while they sew, capturing data intended to train robots to replicate human tasks. Companies like EgoLab are collecting this information to aid major global firms in industrial automation. However, this practice has sparked fears of exploitation, as workers remain uncompensated for the data they generate—data that could ultimately be used to replace them on the production floor.
To survive in this evolving landscape, Bangladesh is attempting to modernize its workforce, though significant hurdles remain. Issues such as digital illiteracy, English-only training manuals, and the lack of a national skills certification system threaten to leave low- and semi-skilled workers behind. Raju Ahmed of the nonprofit Karmojibi Nari warned that without social justice and deliberate support, industrial modernization may displace workers into more precarious informal jobs. In a bid to adapt, the Export Promotion Bureau has signed agreements to train over 22,800 workers and officials over the next three years, aiming to boost productivity and ensure compliance with modern international standards.
