Seventy three factories in Hlaingtharyar Township in Yangon have closed temporarily and permanently and laid off employees, according to the country’s labour affairs department, whose head U Thein Min Tun recently said 24 factories closed operations and 49 implemented layoffs. The factories have to pay compensation to their workers, he said. Around 20,000 workers will be out of job in Hlaingtharyar township alone. Most of the affected ones are garment factories. Most of the factories closed citing the shortage of raw materials and the lack of orders placed, according to a report in a Myanmarese newspaper. Yangon (Myanmar) Fashion garment factory in Shwelinban Industrial Zone in Hlaingtharyar has a workforce of 904 laid off 686 workers recently due to the cancellation of orders. The local garment industry has to rely on 90 per cent of raw materials from China. Most of the local garment industries find it difficult to survive due to the shortage of raw materials and low orders. Thousands of garment workers from the General Enterprises Garment factory reportedly went on a strike in Yangon some time back to halt imminent layoffs amid production slowdown due to the pandemic. The company had announced the layoff of 8,000 of its 10,000 workers. Many garment companies are left with huge inventories as European Union countries have cancelled orders.
