Underlining that job loss was a regular phenomenon in 2020, a CPD survey maintained that in case of job loss, 59 per cent of the workers received the salary only, while 18 per cent got nothing from their employers even as an estimate by BCWS has put the number of workers who lost their jobs in one year, till April at a minimum of 300,000. The fallouts of the pandemic on the garment workers have once again brought the focus back on social protection programmes for them.

The eighth anniversary of the Rana Plaza incident was observed last month only. In these eight years, the readymade garment sector has undergone a massive transformation in terms of sustainability, remediation and workplace safety and security even as a survey report suggests that around 57 per cent of Rana Plaza survivors are jobless still.

E-commerce in Bangladesh gets an impetus ahead of the holy festival of Eid-ul-Fitr as more and more consumers are depending on online platforms for all their shopping requirements. The continuing lockdown that rendered physical marketplaces shut for an extended period before opening up recently, further boosted sales for the online entities.

The long-awaited BGMEA election is over now; new BGMEA board under the leadership of Faruque Hassan has taken over the responsibilities at an unprecedented time, thanks to the pandemic.

The rapid growth of the e-commerce and online shopping emerged as a saviour for many who lost their jobs during the pandemic, as around one lakh jobs have, reportedly, been created by e-commerce and food delivery platforms and their logistics partners in last one year.

Garment manufacturers in Bangladesh seek fiscal and policy support from the Government to come up with a virtual marketplace of their own even as the coronavirus pandemic has changed many things in the world lately and, despite the vaccination drives, many believe social distancing would continue to be the trend going forward and so would the digital marketplaces.