Skilled Workers Matter: The business case for addressing absenteeism and turnover in the Myanmar’s garment sector

Skilled Workers Matter: The business case for addressing absenteeism and turnover in the Myanmar’s garment sector is a contribution to the understanding of one of the important impediments to industry’s steady and continued growth: the high absenteeism and turnover rate of its workforce. Exploring the root causes of these phenomena, including workplace social dialogue practices, working conditions, wages and other incentives, payment system and overall human resource management practices and the individual decision making processes of a young workforce can definitely contribute to putting in place sustainable solutions towards retention of an increasingly skilled, productive and mature workforce. Sustainable solutions will require the involvement of all relevant actors and institutions: workers, trade union representatives, employers, workplace coordinating committees, and government authorities enacting and enforcing a conducive legal framework.

This study clearly demonstrates the need for employers to take absenteeism and turnover in their factories seriously. The existing situation poses a significant risk to workforce productivity and the competitiveness of Myanmar’s garment industry on the global market.