The Effect of Work Stress on the Performance of Readymade Garment Workers in Bangladesh

In last few decades, Bangladesh Readymade Garment (RMG) Industry of Bangladesh has become a leading manufacturing industry in the world with its constant growth. The Industry is of major importance to the national economy of Bangladesh as it contributes more than 80% of the country's export earnings that amounts to about USD nineteen billion. The number of workers currently in this industry is more than 4.2 million and the number of factories is 5000 in different sizes. Despite this impressive growth, the performance of the workers in this industry is poor. Hence, this study aims at identifying the work stress factors and their impact on work performance of the RMG workers in Bangladesh. This used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Respondent workers were selected by simple random sampling method from ten garment companies that are located in the periphery of Dhaka city. The impact of the stress of the workers was assessed by structured questionnaires. Two hundred ten readymade garment workers were interviewed from ten companies of different sizes for this study. Factor analysis was conducted to identify the factors related to stress of the workers that have impact on the work performance of the workers. Regression analysis was carried out to examine the impact of stress on workers' performance. The results show that the factors concerned with work stress symptoms are frustration and feeling of inefficiency, decrease satisfaction at work, problem of concentration at work and decrease of decision making ability. The performance impact factors are work pressure and frustration, understaffed workplace and work in holidays, job insecurity and pressure to complete the assignments. This study suggests that the policy makers should focus on the stress factors identified in this research that have impact on the performance of the workers in this industry