"Over 110 garment factories close", 22 November 2020

A government official said … that at least 110 garment factories had closed in the first nine months of the year and left more than 55,000 workers without jobs – but union leaders worry those numbers could be much higher.

Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training undersecretary of state Ngoy Rith said …, 111 factories had closed in the garment, footwear and travel product sectors. He added the number of closures was similar to the first nine months of last year, when 110 factories closed.

“These closures have left 55,174 workers jobless. This job loss increased somewhat from the same period last year, which saw 53,226 workers laid off,” he said.

… He said the number of suspended employment contracts was gradually subsiding, noting that the number of garment factories that had frozen work contracts had decreased to 52, which affected the incomes of roughly 14,000 workers.

But Fa Saly, president of the National Trade Union Confederation, told … that the actual numbers might be higher than the figures released by the labour ministry and that more Cambodian workers were losing their jobs and incomes each day.

“It is really hard to assess these losses. Workers are still struggling to make a living and certain workers have migrated abroad. But there are still a lot of workers who have no jobs – it is worrisome,” he said.

… He called on the government to seriously address these problems and ensure that the Kingdom’s workforce has good working conditions and more jobs…