Abstract
This chapter presents findings of a study on the Ethiopian textile industry with regard to the perceived major causes of absenteeism and turnover by both workers and management personnel. The findings premarily (derive) from qualitative data obtained through interviews. Interviews with female operators and human resource managers revealed mostly opposing views when explaining high rates of turnover and absenteeism: While the majority of the female workers interviewed blamed the mismatch between low pay and high workload, managers often referred to the workers’ ‘mindset’ and their ‘poor work ethic’s. The chapter highlights that effective measures to reduce employee turnover and absenteeism need to take both perspectives into consideration. The chapter concludes with actor-based recommendations for workforce stabilization.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
R. Gronemeyer, T. Semela, D. Semela, H. Rössner, M. G. Mitta, and S. G. Teshale.
- 2.
The BMZ supports the creation of fair and sustainable jobs in Ethiopia’s industrial parks through its project titled ‘Promoting Sustainable Growth in the Textile and Garment Industry in Ethiopia’ (eTex I). The project is aimed at job-effective growth, and improving the social and environmental sustainability of the textile and garment industry. The project was implemented from 2016 to 2020 by the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH in close collaboration with its political partners. BMZ’s efforts are currently being continued under the GIZ’s Sustainable Industrial Clusters (S.I.C.) project (2021–2024). S.I.C. is co-funded by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and continues to promote decent jobs and sustainable growth in Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector.
- 3.
Michaela Fink (forthcoming): Labor turnover in Ethiopia’s textile industry. A hotspot of social transformation. Bielefeld: transcript.
- 4.
“Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC)-owned parks: Adama, Bahir Dar, Bole Lemi I, Bole Lemi II, Debre Berhan, Dire Dawa, Hawassa, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Park, Jimma, Kilinto, Kombolcha, Mekelle and Semera. Privately owned parks: DBL, Eastern, George Shoes, Huajian, and Velocity.” World Bank Group 2022: p. xii (executive summary).
- 5.
Information provided to the research team by a deputy factory manager at BLIP, Addis Ababa, August 2022.
- 6.
Conversation at BLIP, Addis Ababa, on 01.08.2022.
- 7.
Currently, C. Meyer is carrying out a research on the impact of industrial work on local communities, focusing on the Ethiopian flagship Hawassa Industrial Park (“The Market-, Household-, and Individual-Level Impacts of Industrial Work: Evidence from Ethiopia’s Ready-Made Garment Industry”, see https://www.chrmeyer.com/pages/research).
- 8.
Johannes Herrmann, Statistical Consulting, Gießen (Germany), https://www.statistikberatung-giessen.de.
- 9.
Labour Proclamation No. 1156/2019: https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/109825/136386/F-1056558301/ETH109825.pdf.
- 10.
A kebele (Amharic
qäbäle) is the smallest type of administrative district in Ethiopia and usually consists of only one village unit.
- 11.
How much monthly income provides decent living? By S. Berhane, Addis Fortune, August 7th 2021: https://addisfortune.news/how-much-monthly-income-provides-decent-living-2.
- 12.
Holiday Markets Daze, Confuse Consumers. Addis Fortune, April 22, 2022: https://addisfortune.news/2022/04.
- 13.
Teff prices skyrocket, farmers blame authorities, hoarding intensifies. By H. Tesfaye, The Reporter, February 18, 2023: https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/31147
- 14.
Ministry seeks disbursement of $50 mln for crude palm oil import. By S. Bogale, The Reporter, November 19, 2022: https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/28019.
- 15.
To put this into perspective, however, it should be noted that the survey represents a much greater diversity of companies in the HIP (17) compared to the BLIP (3).
- 16.
Companies handle non-wage benefits differenty. One reason why many companies prefer to offer canteen meals (instead of paying a meal allance) is to avoid workers saving the allowance and work with hungry stomach, which would increase the risk of workplace accidents and reduce worker productivity.
- 17.
Ethiopia ready to privitaze industrial parks. By S. Mengesha, The Reporter, October 15 2022: https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/27160/
References
American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) (2017). Case Study: Ethiopian Textile Industry. American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, Chicago.
Abebe, G.; Buehren, N.; Goldstein, M. (2020). Short-run Welfare Impacts of Factory Jobs. Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia. Policy Research Working Paper 9325. Africa Region Gender Innovation Lab, Washington DC.
Barrett, P. M.; Baumann-Pauly, D. (2019). Made in Ethiopia: Challenges in the Garment Industry’s New Frontier. NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, New York.
Belayneh, R. S. (2020). Multinational Corporations’ Obligation for the Right to Fair Wages: The Case of Industrial Parks in Ethiopia. Master’s Thesis. Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa.
Blattman, C.; Dercon S. (2018). The Impacts of Industrial and Entrepreneurial Work on Income and Health: Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia. In: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 10(3): 1–38.
Business Opportunities Report Ethiopia—Textile and Apparel Industry. Commissioned by the Netherlands Embassy in Addis Abeba; executed by Nash international BV, Dhyana van der Pols, 2015. https://www.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2015/11/Rapport_Textile_Ethiopi%C3%AB.pdf.
DEG (2015). Engagement für faire Arbeitsbedingungen. DBL-Gruppe: Hohe Arbeits- und Sicherheitsstandards im Textilsektor Bangladesch zahlen sich aus. Evaluierungsergebnisse der DEG. DEG, Köln.
Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC)/Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI)/Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI) (2020). Realizing New Productive Capacity in Ethiopia’s Textile and Apparel Sector: Strategy and Policy Recommendations. Ethiopia.
Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) (2017). Industrial Parks in Ethiopia. Incentives Package. Addis Abeba, April 2017. https://www.unido.org/sites/default/files/files/2018-05/2.%20Industial%20Parks%20Incentives.pdf.
Ethiopia Policy Report (2022). Edited by Policy Studies Institute (PSI) National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). https://www.grips.ac.jp/forum-e/pdf_e22/Ethiopia_FDI_Policy_Report_printed.pdf.
Feldt, K.; Klein, J. (2016). Made in Ethiopia: The Potential for Social Upgrading in the Ethiopian Textile Industry. Master’s Thesis. Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen.
Fibre2Fashion (2022). Sub-Saharan Africa: Potential and Challenges in Textiles & Apparel Industry. https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/9406/sub-saharan-africa-potential-and-challenges-in-textiles-apparel-industry.
Fink, M.; Gronemeyer, R.; Rössner, H. (2021). Turnover and Absenteeism in the Textile Industry: Causes and possible Solutions. A Literature Review with a Focus on Ethiopia. Justus Liebig University of Giessen (Germany), 1rst Edition, February 2021. https://www.uni-giessen.de/fbz/fb03/institutefb03/soziologie/professuren/gronemeyer/labourturnover.
Francis, A. (2017). Mapping of the Garment and Textile Industry in Ethiopia. Mondial FNV, Amsterdam.
Gelashe, S. M. (2018). Factors affecting Employee Turnover on Ayka Addis Textile and Investment Group PLC. Master Thesis, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University. http://nadre.ethernet.edu.et/record/2427/files/THESESAASTU-2019-079.pdf.
GIZ (2022). Sector Brief Äthiopien: Nachhaltige und faire Mode. https://www.giz.de/de/downloads/giz2022-de-sector-brief-%C3%A4thiopien-mode.pdf.
Hailu, Y.; Tilaye, A.; Worku, I.; Birhanu, M.; and Daniel, S. (2018). A Study on Women in Manufacturing in Ethiopia: Opportunities, Challenges & Strategic Interventions. Ministry of Trade and Industry and UNDP Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.
Hailu, S. (2016). Perceived Cause of Employee Turnover: The Case of Shints ETP Garment PLC. Master’s Thesis. St. Mary’s University, Addis Ababa.
Halvorsen, S. K. (2021). Labour Turnover and Workers’ Well-Being in the Ethiopian Manufacturing Industry. WIDER Working Paper 2021/36. United Nations University UNU-WIDER, Finland. https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2021-36-labour-turnover-workers-well-being-manufacturing-industry-Ethiopia.pdf.
Hardy, V.; Hauge, J. (2019). Labour Challenges in Ethiopia’s Textile and Leather Industries: No Voice, No Loyality, no Exit? In: African Affairs 118(473): 1–25.
Hailesillassie, H.; Salenko, A. (2022). Work-related stress and associated factors among employees of Hawassa industrial park, southern Ethiopia: an institutional-based cross-sectional study. Research square. https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1300165/v1/6087e1d6-3286-4713-94c7-bffcd65a1471.pdf?c=1644526139.
International Labour Organization (ILO, 1998). Sixteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians, Geneva, 6–15 October 1998. By Andrina Laurie, p. 36: https://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/download/16thicls/repconf.pdf.
International Labour Organization (2020). Covid-19 and the Garment and Textile Sector in Ethiopia: Workers’ Perspectives on Covid-19 Response. June, 2020.
Jego, S. T. (2019). Housing Condition of Industrial Parks Workers: The Case of Hawassa Industrial Park. Master’s Thesis. Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa.
Mayring, P. (2010). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Grundlagen und Techniken. Beltz Juventa, Weinheim/Basel.
Meyer, C. J. (2018). In Search of a better Life: Self-Control in the Ethiopian Labour Market. Job Market Paper, European University Institute, Fiesole.
Meyer, C. J.; Krkoska, E.; Maaskant, C. L. (2021). Wages and Compensation in Ethiopia’s Industrial Parks: Evidence from a Firm Survey. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group.
Mitta, G. M. (2019). Labor Rights, Working Conditions, and Workers’ Power in the Emerging Textile and Apparel Industries in Ethiopia: The Case of Hawassa Industrial Park. Working Paper No. 01/2019. Kassel University, Kassel.
Moon, K.; Bergmann, P.; Brown, D.; Chen, A.; Chu, J.; Eisen, E.; Fischer, G.; Loyalka, P.K.; Rho, S.; and Cohen, J. (2019). Manufacturing Productivity with Worker Turnover (November 18, 2019). Available at SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3248075 or http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3248075.
Oya, C.; Schäfer, F. (2021). The politics of labour relations ins global production networks: Collective action, industrial parks, and local conflict in the Ethiopian apparel sector. In: World Development, Volume 146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105564; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X21001790.
Salingré, A. (2018). Die soziale und arbeitsrechtliche Situation von Frauen in der Bekleidungsindustrie in Bangladesch, Äthiopien und Myanmar. FEMNET, Bonn.
The Africa Report (2022). “Can Ethiopia’s textile industry weave its way back to its former glory?” By Loza Seleshie. Posted on Friday, 22 July 2022 11:23. https://www.theafricareport.com/222138/can-ethiopias-textile-industry-weave-its-way-back-to-its-former-glory.
World Bank Group (2022). On the Path to Industrialization. A Review of Industrial Parks in Ethiopia. Washington. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099350011132228872/pdf/P1741950a12ef10560af5008750d1393b7c.pdf.
WRC (2018). “Ethiopia is a North Star”: Conditions and Miserable Wages Guide Apparel Brands to their Race to the Bottom. Workers Rights Consortium, Washington DC.
Yost, M.; Shields, L. (2017). Ethiopias Emerging Apparel Industry: Options for better Business and Women’s Empowerment in a Frontier Market. BSR, Paris.
Further Reading
Anner, M. S. (2020). Leveraging Desperation: Apparel Brands’ Purchasing Practices during Covid-19 Research REPORT Center for Global Workers’ Rights (CGWR). Center for Global Workers’ Rights, State College.
Barrie, L. (2021). Workers stay away from Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray Region. 16.04.2021. In: just-style. https://www.just-style.com/news/workers-stay-away-from-ethiopias-war-torn-tigray-region_id141195.aspx.
Barrett, P. (2019). A New Industry is creating Jobs. But at What Costs? In: The Washington Post, May 10, 2019.
Cepheus Research & Analytics (2019). Ethiopia’s Industrial Parks: A Data Pack on Recent Performance. Cepheus Growth Capital Partners, New York.
Diriba, M.; Ghadai, S. K.; Misra, S. N. (2019). Ethiopia as a Newly Emerging Global Textile Centre: A Review. In: International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering 7(6): 583–590.
Ministry of Trade and Industry; United Nations Development Programme (2018). A Study on Women in Manufacturing in Ethiopia. Opportunities, Challenges & Strategic Interventions. UNDP, New York.
Oqubay, A. (2015). Made in Africa: Industrial Policy in Ethiopia. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Oqubay, A. (2019). The Strucure and Performance of the Ethopian Manufacturing Sector. In: Cheru, F. /Cramer, C. /Arkebe, O. (2019). The Oxford Handbook of the Ethiopian Economy. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 630–650.
Oya, C. (2019). Building an Industrial Workforce in Ethiopia. In: Cheru, F. /Cramer, C. /Arkebe, O. (2019). The Oxford Handbook of the Ethiopian Economy. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 669–686.
Peou, C. (2016). Negotiating Rural-Urban Transformation and Life Course Fluidity: Rural Young People and Urban Sojourn in Contemporary Cambodia. In: Journal of Rural Studies (44): 177–186.
Rasche, U. (2018). The Stuff that Futures are made of. Akzente. The GIZ Magazine 1/2018. https://akzente.giz.de/en/artikel/stuff-futures-are-made.
Renkel, E. (2019). Textiles from Ethiopia: Applying the Market System Approach M4P for Sustainable Swedish Sourcing. Master’s Thesis. Uppsala University, Uppsala.
Staritz, C.; Whitfield, L. (2019). Light Manufacturing in Ethiopia. The Apparel Export Industry. In: Cheru, F./Cramer, C./Oqubay, A. (2019). The Oxford Handbook of the Ethiopian Economy. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 704–720.
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (2010). Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) 2010/11-2014/15 Draft. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.
The World Bank (2017). Ethiopia—Country Partnership Framework for the Period FY18 –FY22. The World Bank, Washington DC.
Thomson, E. P. (1967). Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism. In: Past & Present (38): 56–97.
Tran, N. A. (2013). Ties that Bind: Cultural Identity, Class, and Law in Vietnam’s Labor Resistance. Southeast Asia Program Publication, New York.
Yevondwossen, M. (2020). Ethiopia’s Economic Growth Will Decline by 9.9% in 2020. https://capitalethiopia.com/featured/ethiopias-economic-growth-will-decline-by-9-9-in-2020.
Zakrzewski, G. (2021). Industrieparks und die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung Äthiopiens. In: Gronemeyer, R. /Metzger, J. /Newerla, A. (eds.). conditio humana—Beiträge zum Verlust von Welt und Leib, Nr. 3/2021: Zwischen ökonomischem Wachstum und ethnischen Konflikten. Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen. http://geb.uni-giessen.de/geb/volltexte/2021/16075/pdf/conditio_humana_3.pdf.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fink, M. (2023). Understanding the Causes of High Labor Turnover and Absenteeism in the Ethiopian Textile and Garment Industry: Interviews with (Female) Workers and Management Personnel. In: Gronemeyer, R., Fink, M. (eds) Industrialization in Ethiopia: Awakening - Crisis - Outlooks. Sozialwissenschaftliche Zugänge zu Afrika. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-41794-9_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-41794-9_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden
Print ISBN: 978-3-658-41793-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-658-41794-9
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)