Mitigating the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the Readymade Garments Industry of Bangladesh

The goal of this research work is two-fold. First, it examines the effects of COVID-19 in the workplace of the RMG industry in Bangladesh. Second, it suggests recommendations to fight the negative impact of COVID-19 on the RMG industry of Bangladesh. This research describes the potential strategies to mitigate the negative impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the readymade garment (RMG) workers of Bangladesh. It articulates the RMG workers’ existing vulnerability during the COVID-19 pandemic based on currently available evidence and personal conversations/communications with RMG workers. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. A survey instrument was developed for collecting primary data to capture the information relating to the research objectives. We distributed the questionnaire to 400 garment workers, managers, and owner-managers. Responses were obtained from 399 rank and file employees, but 64 participants could not correctly respond to the questions. We did not consider those incorrect responses and we were left with 335 questions with the accurate response (response rate of 83% approximately). Hence the sample size is adequate and representative. We employed frequency, correlation, and regression analysis. The correlation was used to identify if there is an association and strengthen the relationship between the independent variables (adaptability, financial prowess, non-financial prowess, and compliance with CDC guidelines) and the dependent variable Covid-19). We also employed regression analysis to look at the effects of independent examine independent variables on the dependent variable (COVID-19). It is clearly revealed in this study that all the independent variables are positively and significantly correlated with the dependent variable COVID-19, as is evidenced by Pearson correlation coefficients (r) and p values of each independent variable The most considerable relationship is the Adaptability, where r = 0.167.