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Apparel/Garments
Why is Bangladesh's apparel industry shedding jobs?
12 Jul '26
3 min read
Pic: Rehman Asad / Shutterstock.com
Insights
Bangladesh's garment sector is reportedly facing factory closures and layoffs, leaving thousands jobless.
Many workers, 20,000 as per some estimates, were reportedly affected in the first half of the year amid falling orders, rising costs and financing challenges facing the industry.
The crisis underscores the sector's struggle to balance global competitiveness with employment stability.
If media reports are any indication, thousands of garment workers in Bangladesh are reportedly finding themselves jobless amid a growing wave of factory closures and layoffs across the country’s apparel manufacturing hubs.
The latest instance reportedly came on June 16, when two garment factories in Gazipur reportedly shut down, leaving around 1,800 workers jobless overnight.
Bangladesh's garment sector is reportedly facing factory closures and layoffs, leaving thousands jobless.
Many workers, 20,000 as per some estimates, were reportedly affected in the first half of the year amid falling orders, rising costs and financing challenges facing the industry.
The crisis underscores the sector's struggle to balance global competitiveness with employment stability.
Meanwhile, reports citing data from the country’s Industrial Police, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), claimed at least 20,000 workers were affected by layoffs and retrenchment in the first six months of the year, with the majority of them being from the readymade garment sector, even as factory owners claim the industry is being squeezed from several directions at once.
A sharp squeeze from dwindling purchase orders, rising
