Sri Lanka’s apparel industry on the rebound
Sri Lanka’s apparel industry is currently on a rebound with order books keeping factories busy and having plans of increasing its workforce by about 10-15 per cent this year. The industry is also expected to brace for a spillover of orders from Bangladesh should the crisis there aggravate.
Export figures are indicating an increase in production and revenue with order books looking healthy and factories “fairly busy”, Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) spokesman Yohan Lawrence told The Sunday Times Business.
JAAF figures show June garment exports recording an increase of 4 per cent with total exports amounting to US$417.71 million compared to $401.63 million in 2023. July recorded an increase in revenue by 3.29 per cent amounting to $414.38 million compared to $401.18 million last year.
Larger apparel factories, industry officials point out are now requiring an increase in employment of about 10-15 per cent with export figures rising and as factories are receiving a surge in orders causing plants to fill up.
Commenting on how the industry hopes to recruit a trained workforce that had previously “voluntarily” left their jobs it was noted that it would take only a matter of about three months to train staff to gather the necessary skills.
Sri Lanka Chamber of Garment Exporters Secretary General Hemantha Kumara representing the SME sector said they are currently experiencing a surge in orders of about 120 per cent until early next year as a result of the key markets of the US, UK and Europe doing well backed by the improvement in the purchasing power of consumers.
Mr. Kumara pointed out that they are expecting a good Christmas season this year as a result of this increased orders. “We are running short of employees and everybody is facing a serious issue in both skilled and unskilled workers,” Mr. Kumara said.
The SME sector is now on a recruitment drive with a surge in vacancies and it is noted that the SME sector alone may require an increased workforce of about 10-15 per cent. At present the SME sector has a workforce of around 30,000. The workforce dropped by about 30 per cent in the past few years. SME factories usually employ a workforce ranging 50-500 per factory depending on the size of the operation.
In the meantime, the industry is bracing for any spillover orders from Bangladesh where about 114 garment factories in Dhaka have shut down. Industry analysts point out that Sri Lanka’s apparel industry must leverage on possible new orders coming from the region.
Currently orders for the next 3-4 months will continue as the Bangladesh industry is right now shipping for the fall holiday and in October / November there will be shipping for spring of next year.
But officials point out that some buyers have already started to reconsider orders to Bangladesh and this will mean a shift of some of the orders to India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Some of the factories have also reportedly closed due to a lack of orders while others have struggled to get raw materials. These factories so affected are mainly located in Dhaka that are also claimed to have been left at a loss of winter work orders as a result of the tensions.
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