The latest issue of the ILO’s Cambodian garment and footwear sector bulletin identified three main factors which may have contributed to the divergence between strong exports and weaker employment and enterprise creation. These factors include a rise in the industry’s productivity, statistical problems with the measurement of employment and factory numbers, and an increase in production in subcontracting factories.Maurizio Bussi, director of the ILO country office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, commented: “A rise in employment and production in subcontracting factories could be a concerning development if subcontracting is being used as a way to undercut regulations, including labour law and the minimum wage”.

Unlike registered exporting facto…