A report was released on Wednesday, August 16, showing that working conditions in Myanmar's garment factories have deteriorated since the 2021 military coup. H&M is going to pull out of Myanmar step by step. Inditex, the company behind Zara and Primark, among others, already preceded the Swedish billion-dollar company. However, the question is whether workers will benefit from H&M's decision.
H&M says: “We have been closely following the latest developments in Myanmar and see increasing challenges in conducting our business according to our standards and requirements.” The company will phase out its activities in Myanmar in the near future. The question is whether this decision will actually benefit the people of Myanmar?
On its own website, H&M writes that it has 41 factories in Myanmar, employing nearly 42,000 workers. The European Union therefore encouraged companies to stay in Myanmar: according to the International Labor Organization, the clothing and shoe industry employs more than 700,000 Myanmarese. The majority of these are young women who have had little or no education. If they lose their job, they will not find new work just like that and many families will be in trouble.
Since the Myanmar army overthrew democratically elected representatives in early 2021, working conditions in garment factories in the country have deteriorated. More than 150 abuses have already been reported, such as salary withholding.
