This data from the Industrial Police, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) was reported by the Bangladesh daily, Prothom Alo.
The report highlights a rising trend of factory closures and job losses, with garment manufacturers and labour leaders offering different explanations for the situation.
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According to the newspaper, job losses have centred on the RMG sector, which plays a key role in Bangladesh’s export industry.
Garment factory owners and manufacturers attributed the job cuts to a decline in export orders and challenges securing bank finance, which they said were forcing some factories to close permanently, while others resorted to layoffs.
Labour union representatives, however, questioned the scale of any drop in export orders. They argued that garment exports had only fallen slightly in the outgoing fiscal year and suggested that some dismissals had targeted workers attempting to establish trade unions within factories.
In fiscal 2024–25, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed that garment exports totalled $39.35bn, which represented an 8.84% increase.
However, during the first 11 months of the fiscal year, exports amounted to $35.31bn, down 3.41% from the same period a year ago.
Citing Industrial Police figures, Prothom Alo stated that in the first five months of the year, 79 factories across eight industrial zones laid off 7,784 workers.
Notably, the highest numbers of layoffs occurred in March and May, periods that coincided with the Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha holidays.
In the first half of the year, BGMEA stated that 80 of its member factories retrenched or dismissed 19,188 workers. This included 18 factories in Dhaka, 22 in Savar-Ashulia, and 40 in Gazipur.
Of these, Prothom Alo wrote, 27 factories have since closed, while the rest are still operating.
Further figures from Industrial Police, as cited in the news report, showed that 44 factories in Gazipur alone dismissed 2,155 workers from January to June.
Seven of those factories, among them APS Apparels and Evince Textile, attributed their layoffs, which totalled 556 workers, to a reduction in export orders and financial difficulties.
Owners of 37 other factories listed reasons such as labour unrest, production stoppage, alleged misconduct, and suspected document forgery for a further 1,599 dismissals.
Salahuddin Swapan, former secretary general of the Industrial Bangladesh Council, told Prothom Alo that some workers had been dismissed for participating in union activities, noting the legal process for forming unions was recently eased.
BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan told the publication that factory closures were being driven by declining orders, banking restrictions, and owners leaving the sector.
“At the same time, new factories are also being established, which is why overall exports have not fallen significantly,” he said, adding that the actual number of layoffs might be higher than 19,000 due to possible underreporting.
BKMEA President Mohammad Hatem, also told the newspaper that many factories face persistent order shortages and strict lending policies from banks, which has deepened the sector’s challenges and contributed to ongoing layoffs and closures.
