Over half of apparel firms are found to be subsidiaries of different group of companies, according to a new survey.
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a local think-tank, conducted the survey on "Transformation in the RMG sector in post-Rana Plaza period, Findings from CPD survey". The study covered 226 apparel factories.
The survey said though the trend of transforming readymade garment units into private limited companies from sole proprietorship keeps increasing, the enterprises are less interested in going to the public.
It said only 4.0 per cent factories are publicly listed companies while 2.0 per cent are joint venture ones.
About 88 per cent of the companies have on average three directors and two of whom are from the same family.
The study simultaneously found around 5.3 per cent workers on average resigned every month and female workers left more than their male colleagues (male turnover rate is 5.2 per cent and female 6.0 per cent).
"Workers' frequent turnover is a major concern and this indicates a new trend of mobility and replacement where more female leaves their current workplace," visiting CPD research associate and senior lecturer of East West University Abeer Khandker said.
He was sharing one of the study reports in the first panel discussion on Changes in Ownership structure, management practices and technology in the RMG enterprises; their relationship with enterprise-level relationship on Thursday in Dhaka.
CPD distinguished fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya moderated the discussion held in the city's Gulshan area.
Citing the findings, he said nearly 13 per cent firms have reported to have foreign staff working in those sections where specialised knowledge and professional skills are required.
About technological development, he said 21 per cent of the surveyed enterprises are well advanced in technology use while 16 per cent are found in the low category.
BGMEA senior vice president Faruque Hassan said the ownership structure in the apparel industry has kept changing over the years. The business becomes highly capital-intensive.
"So, we've to go to the share market for the required capital," he said.
About the foreign staff, the BGMEA leader said the growth of the sector rose to US$ 30 billion from US$ 12 billion a decade ago.
But the demand for technicians did not increase accordingly.
"There is a shortfall in expertise in terms of manufacturing high-end products. So, we have to depend on foreign expertise," he added.
Talking about the workers' turnover, garment union leader Touhidur Rahman said though workplace safety has improved significantly after the Rana Plaza tragedy, facilities like holidays and casual leave are not taken care of.
Mr Rahman said there are many factories where workers engage in production even suffering from high fever. "So, workers leave jobs looking for better opportunities," he added.
He highlighted the importance of re-skilling programme for the labourers making them capable of handling the technological knowhow.
Lead economist of the World Bank's Dhaka office Dr Zahid Hussain said the country has not achieved too much progress at an aggregate level in terms of export diversification as the economy's dependency on RMG is gradually increasing.
He suggested finding reasons why garment companies are not interested in functional upgrades.
He also laid emphasis on increasing productivity rate, which is lower than other competing countries.
Professor Dr Syed Farhat Anwar, Director of the Institute of Business Administration of Dhaka University, suggested bringing coordination among productivity, value chain and efficiency for better output in the era of high technological advancement.
He also recommended making different group of industries for different size of markets.
CPD distinguished fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said institutional initiative is required for technological upgrades to improve both management and workers' adoptability.
He also called for re-evaluating the government's existing policy and incentives for the sector before setting a fresh development strategy.
