The Tiruppur apparel industry in Tamil Nadu is facing a potential labour crisis as thousands of migrant workers from UP are returning home due to increased job opportunities.
Around 60,000 migrant workers have already left, and the Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA) is working to improve living conditions for migrant workers to curb the exodus. Migrant workers constitute half of the estimated 600,000 workers at apparel units in Tirupur.
“There has been a 20% exodus of migrant workers from Tiruppur garment manufacturing units. That is a matter of concern,” said K M Subramanian, president of Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA).
The organisation wants to make the living conditions of migrant workers in the city better in order to halt their departure. It has established a forum to examine a range of possibilities, such as housing societies, improved healthcare facilities, pay increases, and prompt payment of earnings to foreign workers, stated Subramanian.
The majority of the migrant labourers at the Tiruppur garment facilities, whose exports were Rs. 34,350 crore in FY ’23, are from Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
