IFC-ILO report finds women who work in supervisory positions at garment factories benefit from training. The assessment, conducted by the University of Oxford and the BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, focused on Better Work’s GEAR program funded by the European Union and was presented in Dhaka.
Assessment across 27 garment factories in Dhaka and Chattogram highlights the GEAR program’s positive impact on line efficiency and gender equality. To ensure the success of implementation, major brands partnered with GEAR to promote and implement it.
More than 600 women operators from 78 factories in the UK have been trained in technical and supervision skills since 2016. Ninety per cent of trainees completed the program, and two thirds were promoted to supervisory posts.
The training has increased the earnings of those who are in supervisory roles by 40%. This indicates that there is potential to advance further within the hierarchy.
According to Christopher Woodruff, the lead researcher of the study and a professor of development economics at the University of Oxford, “GEAR trainees have demonstrated higher effectiveness as supervisors. The lines managed by these trainees have shown a 4 per cent greater efficiency, and this gap continues to widen with their supervisory experience.”
According to the study, sewing operators on GEAR-trained lines experience higher levels in well-being as they work within more pleasant working conditions. This is due to the supportive, cooperative style of management that GEAR trainee supervisors exhibit.