4 minute read
6.2 Women in Manufacturing Jobs: The Role of Industrial Policy
and agreements that encourage and promote intraregional skills mobility as a way to facilitate integration into high-skill tasks in manufacturing GVCs. Policy strategies should ensure the presence of a careful and effective blend of skillsrelated policies, migration policies, and employment-protection policies and that these policies are aligned with industrial and trade policies at the country level. While pursuing these strategies, efforts should be made to remove any barriers and bottlenecks to further skills development, particularly given the changing nature of work (OECD 2017).
Promoting the Empowerment of Women in Manufacturing through Skills Improvement
Promoting inclusiveness and empowerment of women should be an integral part of industrial policy in Sub-Saharan African countries. Despite their socioeconomic contributions, women represent only 38 percent of the manufacturing workforce in Africa (Yong 2017) and, for every US$1 made by men in manufacturing, services, and trade, women earn only 70 cents (Kabaya and Lusigi 2018). A set of policies adopted by the Ethiopian government underscores the potential role that governments can play to create employment opportunities for women in manufacturing (box 6.2).
BOX 6.2
Female labor force participation is high in Ethiopia, 77.8 percent as of 2013, although 36 percent of this is in the informal sector. The share of women in the agricultural sector decreased by 10.8 percent between 2005 and 2014. The service sector rather than manufacturing has been the largest beneficiary of this labor shift. As of 2014, female workers represented 33.3 percent of the workforce in the manufacturing sector (large and medium scale). About 78 percent of women employed in manufacturing in Ethiopia reported an improvement in income and 63 percent recorded an increase in family living standards. This steady increase has been achieved through targeted government policies. Through the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II), the Ethiopian government aims to ensure that growth in the manufacturing sector is equitable and inclusive, and benefits youth, women, and all communities.
The plan envisages creating new job opportunities in textiles and garments, leather and leather products, food and beverages, and the pharmaceutical industry. Women are expected to fill 60 percent of the low- and medium-skill jobs, and 30 percent of the high-skill jobs. In addition, GTP II also aims to increase the participation of women in high leadership positions in manufacturing (UNDP 2018).
(continued next page)
The government’s focus on ensuring equitable and inclusive industrialization-led growth is important for several reasons. In Ethiopia, women who participate in the manufacturing sector are on average less educated, rural migrants (62 percent) who work predominantly in labor-intensive and low-skill, low-paying jobs in subsectors such as agro-processing, textiles and apparel, and leather and leather goods manufacturing, and earn much less (77 percent of what their male counterparts earn) even after adjusting for education and experience. These patterns are also observed in women’s participation in value chains. The country’s garment sector, for example, has a disproportionately high concentration of women in low-skill jobs and factory floor operations. Women constitute 60 percent of the production workforce in the cutting stage and 95 percent in the sewing stage, but only 15 percent of the workforce in the finishing stage.
By contrast, in high-skill jobs or traditionally male-dominated subsectors such as the chemical and metal engineering industries, women account for only 10 percent and 20 percent of high-skilled production workers, respectively. Even in emerging manufacturing subsectors such as information and communication technology manufacturing, where women’s participation rate has been on the rise, they are still overrepresented in the lower-skill strata (UNDP 2018).
Women are also underrepresented in top leadership positions in manufacturing, with about 8 percent of director positions held by women across all manufacturing industries, rising to 13 percent when the sample includes small manufacturing firms. On average, 16 percent of large- and medium-scale manufacturing firms are owned by women; women-owned firms tend to be smaller and concentrated in low-productivity, low-technology, and low-growth industries.
A set of policies implemented by the Ethiopian government was instrumental in promoting inclusiveness and empowerment of women in manufacturing. The Ministry of Industry’s Industrial Development Strategic Plan (2013–2025) focused on a policy shift from agriculture-led to industrial-led development, emphasizing the labor-intensive industrial sector to generate employment. Although the strategic plan is gender neutral, the prioritization of labor-intensive, women-dominated subsectors has contributed to increased employment opportunities for women in manufacturing and spurred female entrepreneurship. The adoption of both the Growth and Transformation Plan I (GTP I) between 2011 and 2015 and GTP II during 2016–20 as part of the industrial development plan had specific gender targets and stipulated policies that enhanced women’s entry into these sectors. The strategy to boost industrial performance through the development of industrial parks contributed to the creation of employment opportunities for women in manufacturing. For example, the Hawassa Industrial Park, which is a hub for the textiles and garment industry, is expected to create 60,000 jobs, of which 90 percent are expected to benefit women. Additionally, through its National Employment Policy and Strategy, Ethiopia has implemented policies to increase women’s participation in the labor market, particularly in the formal sector. The strategy also emphasizes providing support to improve the skills, productivity, and income of women as well as providing daycare centers in or near work premises so working mothers can safely leave their children during working hours (UNDP 2018).
