Factors influencing high female employee attrition in the Sri Lankan Apparel Industry








Employee turnover is defined by Yankeelov et al (2008, p.15) as ‘employees leaving the organization due to various reasons and the negative impact this can have on the organization’ Employee turnover includes voluntary and involuntary turnover and avoidable and unavoidable turnover. Voluntary turnover can be described as the employee leaving the organization on his or her own volition, whereas involuntary turnover is the forced exit of the employee from the organization due to various factors. These factors range from termination of employment due to disciplinary reasons, to downsizing of the organization, employee reaching the retirement age, etc. Avoidable turnover refers to employee attrition that can be prevented by the actions and strategies of the firm, whereas unavoidable turnover refers to employee attrition which cannot be thwarted by the actions and strategies of the firm. Analysis of empirical research on female employee turnover in the Sri Lankan apparel industry indicate that turnover of female employees is higher than the industry average (Madurawala, 2017).  This is extremely concerning for the industry given the high average turnover in the industry (i.e., industry turnover was approximately 7.9% in 2019 (Welmilla, 2020)), high female representation in the apparel industry (Madurawala, 2017), and difficulties faced in sourcing new workers to the industry (Rajapaksa, 2018). Findings from empirical research have identified several reasons for this high turnover of female employees in the Sri Lankan apparel industry. These reasons include poor perception of female workers in the apparel industry, particularly semi-skilled workers who are commonly referred to as ‘juki girls’ i.e., derogatory term used to describe loose women in society (Madurawala, 2017), salary discrimination i.e., male workers in the industry are paid more than female workers (Athukorala, 2017), long commute from home to office, long working hours and hard work (Rajapaksa, 2015), and difficulties in findings affordable, clean, and safe accommodation in proximity to free trade zones where most apparel manufacturing plants are located (Athukorala, 2017).  In order to reduce high female employee attrition it is imperative that the apparel industry address wage discrimination, should pressure the government to construct affordable, clean, and safe accommodation facilities for apparel and other workers in the free trade zones spread across the country, and should address negative social opinion of semi-skilled female apparel workers via an aggressive all-island information campaign which highlights the contribution of these workers to the success and sustainability of the apparel industry.   



References

Athukorala, P. (2017). Manufacturing Exports from Sri Lanka: Opportunities, Achievements and Policy Options. Working Papers in Trade and Development. Working Paper No. 2017/03, Australian National University.

Madurawala, S. (2017). Dwindling Stitching Hands Labor Shortages in Apparel Industry in Sri Lanka. Daily Mirror (e-edition). [Online] Available at:  https://www.pressreader.com/sri-lanka/daily-mirror-sri-lanka/20170404/282660392268319 [Accessed: 20 March 2021].

Rajapaksa, W., (2015). An Alternative Model for Employees' Voluntary Turnover. Germany. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.

Rajapaksa, A, (2018). An analysis of the major factors affecting labor turnover in apparel industry in Sri Lanka: Policy alternatives for solving problems. [Online] Available at: https://hrmars.com/papers_submitted/4542/An_Analysis_of_Major_Factors_Affecting_Labor_Turnover_in_the_Apparel_Industry_in_Sri_Lanka_Policy_Alternations_for_Solving_the_Problem.pdf [Accessed: 20 March 2021].

Welmilla, I. (2020). Human Resource Challenges in Apparel Industry of Sri Lanka. [Online] Available at: file:///C:/Users/Adrian/AppData/Local/Temp/5-Human-Resources-Challenges.pdf [Accessed: 20 March 2021].

Wijesekera, M., (2017). Sri Lankan Garment Factories Boost Wages and Benefits as Labor Shortage Looms, Global Press Journal, Sri Lanka. [Online] Available at: https://globalpressjournal.com/asia/sri_lanka/sri-lankan-garment-factories-boost-wages-benefits-labor-shortage-looms/?utm_content=bufferbe5bcandutm_medium=socialandutm [Accessed: 20 March 2021].

Yankeelov, P.A., Barbee, A.P., Sullivan, D. and Antle, B. F. (2009). Individual and organizational factors in job retention in Kentucky's child welfare agency. Children and Youth Services Review, 31(5), pp. 547-554.

 

 


Comments

  1. Ruwan HerathMarch 25, 2021 at 4:10 AM

    Completely agreed with the argument made by the author by referencing valuable article. But I emphasize that Wage discrimination is no more in apparel industry. As per the newly published gazette in June 2018 under the subject of Minimum wage - Garment manufacturing trade" salary slabs has been introduce as per the job role & service period wise. Failure to adhere with the minimum wage will be an offence.
    However, it's worth to read & will be able to get an overall idea on the topic.

    ReplyDelete

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