After seeing a sharp decline in orders over the previous two years, Tamil Nadu’s textile clusters are now dealing with a labour crisis.
The factories are progressively raising production due to signs of a resurgence in orders, which means they require additional staff.
According to K. Selvaraju, secretary general of the Southern India Mills’ Association, wages for textile workers in Rajasthan and Odisha have gone up by 20 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively. There have been tidings of pay increases in Maharashtra as well.
The textile and garment companies in Tamil Nadu employ a large number of people from other States, and he stated that these workers were unlikely to come here to work when they might get higher salaries elsewhere closer to their home State.
The Indian Cotton Federation President, J. Thulasidharan, stated that in order to address the labour issue, textile mills would need to concentrate on automation. He advised the mills to consider investing in spinning technology that incorporated numerous automated processes, as such machinery was currently available.
According to Selvaraju, Tamil Nadu’s textile factories had to think about offering their employees better facilities and greater remuneration in order to draw in new employees. According to him, certain industries have already begun to do this.
Industry insiders predicted that domestic demand would increase in the coming months. More workers would be required as a result. If the units do not begin addressing the problem, a shortage of labour may have an impact on operations, they stated.
