From inclusion to exclusion? The case of ex-workers of garment industry in Bangladesh

This research is about a ‘forgotten class’—those garment workers of Bangladesh who have left this industry. Although this industry has employed several mil-lion women and included them in formal labour market, it is highly criticized due to its failure to provide them with a sustainable and decent livelihood choice. Consequently, women workers leave the job within a very short span after starting. This trend raises a broad question—what happens to the lives of these ‘once included workers’ after their departure. This has remained an unex-plored area. Under purview of this broad question, I have tried to find answer of three specific questions—why do women workers depart from garment industry and what are their post-factory livelihood options? what are ex-workers’ experience and perception of working in garment? and, what changes ex-workers experi-ence in post-factory life in terms of their living condition and status? I have followed a qualitative approach and employed case-study method. Findings reveal that throughout the work life in garment, although very short, workers become ‘floating’, move from one factory to another in search of better condi-tion due to some specific forms of labour market insecurities, and the end of this ‘floating phase’ is departure. Both workplace related factors (excessive work pressure, labour control practice and behaviour of managerial staffs, breach of contract) as well as non-workplace related factors (patriarchal dominance, mar-riage, concerns for social reproduction and care economy) are responsible for departure. Whatever the reason, exclusion from formal labour market has pushed some ex-workers to informal sector work and has made some others jobless. The immediate impact of exclusion is income poverty and dependency, which has significant implications for other social and non-economic arenas of life especially in self-worth, self-esteem, status and recognition, mobility, and stigmatization. As a whole, exclusion shows a clear downward mobility, which is not a simple process and involves many factors.