Background of the Study

The fourth Industrial Revolution, and this seems the most radical revolution. This fourth
Industrial Revolution is so different because every sector of the industry is developing the
ability to design and engineer the world around us using the atoms and molecules that
compose it. However, this rapid increase in digitization, robotization, and intelligent automation
has a significant impact on the current and future labour market. This will certainly create huge
new job opportunities while billions of jobs will be threatened. The World Economic Forum
(WEF) claimed that about 800 million people worldwide could lose their jobs by 2030, while
approximately 5.7 million unskilled Bangladeshis would be sacked from their jobs abroad and at
home due to a lack of technological skills. For example, in 2013, the RMG sector employed
about 4.4 million workers in Bangladesh, a figure that dropped significantly to about 3.5 million
by 2018. It is argued that one machine can potentially lay off 10 workers. Brac University survey
shows, rapid automation, wage hikes and complex production process in the garment sector
and marriages have narrowed the female workers' participation in the apparel industry in
Bangladesh (Mirdha, 2020). Bangladesh is the world's second largest supplier of clothes to
Western countries after China, and relies on the garment industry for more than 80% of exports
and four million jobs. Yet, the sector has been rocked in recent years - first by the 2013 Rana
Plaza collapse on the outskirts of Dhaka that killed more than 1,100 workers, then by the novel
coronavirus pandemic in the year 2020. The 2013 disaster sparked efforts to improve labour
rights and conditions, but the coronavirus outbreak led to thousands of garment workers being
laid off in recent months as Western fashion brands cancelled orders due to global store
closures.
Since 2015, there has been a change in the labour demographics within Bangladesh’s RMG
sector. Where once it was a mostly female workforce-dominated industry, it now has more
male than female workers. This is due to a more significant number of RMG and apparel
factories experiencing growth and incorporating technology and automation into their
production processes, which requires a different skillset. Women are particularly at risk, as they
represent the majority of the total workforce within the garments industry and are often
employed to execute the tasks which are highly susceptible to automation which explains the
urgent need to create a skilled workforce to save job and create new job opportunities. Male
workers have been found to be more suited in terms of their skills, training and knowledge to
the needs of a more automated factory than their female counterparts. Thus the H&M
Foundation aims to launch a 3-6-year project in Bangladesh to equip female textile workers for
an automated and digitized future work environment which will increase female employability,
to prevent livelihood risks for RMG women.
Purpose of the Study
As it is an era of fast fashion, it is normal that buyers want product within short lead-time but
with low price. Automating their production line to boost output and cope with strict lead time,
which ultimately reduced the demand for human resources. According to World Bank data, the
number of new jobs added by the garment and textile has fallen to 60,000 a year, from over
300,000 annually between 2003 and 2010. Government statistics show a crucial part of the
supply chain, the production of basic textiles, is already seeing an outright decline in jobs.
Women are particularly at risk, as they represent the majority of the total workforce within the
garments industry and are often employed to execute the tasks which are highly susceptible to
automation which explains the urgent need to create a skilled workforce to save job and create
new job opportunities. H&MF’s vision is to create an Innovation Hub for Future Work
interventions through a multi-stakeholder approach, addressing female job security through a
holistic lens by looking at all factors influencing the employability and empowerment, from the
household/community level to the industry sphere. Thus the projects offer a holistic skilling
program to lead up skilling training to equip female garment workers with critical skill and parallelly
accompanied by an Innovation Challenge Fund which will identify promising business innovations with
high potential for impact on the lives of female garment workers and increasing Bangladeshi RMG
sector’s competitiveness. The consultancy thus will map out the ongoing Future Work-related initiatives
concerning the forthcoming Dialogue Series and Innovation Challenge to understand the context in
which the program is operating through conducting a quick analysis of existing Future Work initiatives
around fast fashion, circular fashion, automation in the apparel sector, advanced manufacturing
technology, etc. in Bangladesh to identify the potential overlaps, synergies and will identify and
catalogue the range of industrial dialogues, research works and challenge fund so that the current
program stands out and prepares the industry for the 4IR without duplicating efforts.

Methodology
The study will be done based on qualitative research which will include i) a systematic literature
review, ii) Semi-structured key informant interviews (KIIs), iii) Media Analysis, iv) Stakeholder
Mapping, v) Case studies.

Methodology Task to be done

Systematic literature review
key informant interviews (KIIs)
The study will conduct a systematic literature
review and analysis of existing Future Work
initiatives around fast fashion, circular fashion,
automation in the apparel sector, advanced
manufacturing technology, etc. in Bangladesh to
identify the potential overlaps, synergies
The study will review industrial dialogues,
research works and challenge fund in regards to
Future of Work for RMG sector that has been
done, ongoing or to be started, the exact focus of
the interventions that are already being taken,
duration, and delivery mechanism, funded and
implemented by different partners.
The study will arrange face-to-face/virtual
interviews with various stakeholders in the
private, public, non-profit, and governmental
realms which will help to map the past, current or
 to be started Future Work Interventions
especially related to Industry level dialogue and
Innovation related interventions.
Media Analysis The study will analysis the media publication
to analysis impact of ongoing interventions.
Stakeholder Mapping Stakeholder mapping will be done to
systematically listing and analyzing information to
determine which groups have an interest in a
project, which groups are typically included or
excluded, whether each group is relevant to
include, whether the groups support or oppose
the project, or will the groups benefit or be
harmed by it.
Case studies The study will add few case studies to draw
out past and present condition of the piloting
intervention at the RMG sector for innovative
ideas to address the readiness of, and prepare
the Bangladesh garments industry for, changing
trends and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Deliverables of the study

The proposed research team as being stated herein is compelled to make following deliverables within
the scope of this project

SL Deliverable Items
No

1 Inception Report  Accepted Proposal  Work Map

 Plan of Action
2 Methodology  Detail Methodology
3 Research Instruments in both  KII Checklist
English and Bangla
 Observation Checklist

4 Research Report  Draft Report  Final Report (Compiled)

 Graphical Presentation
 Power Point Presentation

5 Raw Data  Filled up KII questionnaire  Reviewed Document

 KII Notes and recordings  Qualitative Analysis

 Relevant meeting minute  Workshop script

Reference

Mirdha, R.U, 2020. ‘Women garment workers on the decline’. The Daily Star. December 15, 2020.
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wh1nIzFUVDUU-bsBJQ
%3A1617818634672&ei=CvRtYMbPKO7bz7sPyounQA&oq=how+to+cite+newspaper+articles+&gs_lcp=C
gdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYAzIECCMQJzICCAAyAggAMgIIADIECAAQQzICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAOgcIABBHE
LADOgcIABCwAxBDOgYIABAWEB5Q_wVY0xFg6SJoAnACeACAAd0CiAGZCJIBBzAuMy4xLjGYAQCgAQGqA
Qdnd3Mtd2l6yAEKwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz . [Accessed: 8th April, 2021]