More than 130 garment factories in Cambodia have suspended operations amid the global coronavirus economic slowdown, leaving nearly 100,000 workers without work and reliant on a modest and temporary government-supported stipend of $70 per month, Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour told reporters Monday.
Speaking at a press conference at the Council of Ministers, Sour said that Covid-19 had severely impacted the Cambodian industry’s two largest markets — the U.S. and Europe — and caused a big decrease in orders. He said clothing orders in this year’s second quarter may reach only 50-60% of the same period last year.
“There are more than 130 factories that have suspended [operations] and it has impacted nearly 100,000 workers,” Sour said, adding officials asked factories not to outright lay-off workers so that they could still be eligible for the $70 program.
In full: https://cambojanews.com/nearly-100000-garment-workers-suspended-as-orders-halved/
