Guatemala textile jobs halved
10/08/2009
The number of employees in the textile industry in Guatemala has halved in the last four years, according to Asies, an organisation that carries out investigations into social issues in the central American country.
The latest in a series of surveys that Asies has carried out on the industry suggests that Guatemala’s textile and clothing output is at its lowest for eight years and that 52% of companies involved have decreased production.
One of the consultants involved in the study, Violeta Hernández, told local media that if demand for Guatemalan-produced clothing in the main export market, the US, were to pick up suddenly, the industry would have no way of responding owing to a downturn in investment, productivity and worker numbers.
Alejandro Ceballos, director of the textile and apparel branch of export promotions agency, Agexport, commented that the industry had employed 130,000 people in 2005, but that half of the jobs had gone as companies sought to reduce costs.
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