informal work

While orders for garments are sent to an increasingly concentrated number of agents or companies, these are distributed to many more suppliers, who in turn distribute work to a large network of subcontractors.

Many of these subcontractors operate in the informal economy: under pressure to remain competitive, they see informalisation as an important way to cut costs. In the past, informal economy garment workers simply meant home-workers but informal work has extended into regular, formally-operating garment factories.

It is estimated that a quarter of the world's working population is active in the informal economy. Although they generate 35% of global GDP, informal economy workers are not recognised or protected under legal and regulatory frameworks and are highly vulnerable.

Often:

• they have no wage agreements and earn significantly less than formally employed workers;
• they are not paid on time;
• they have no employment contracts;
• they have no regular working hours;
• they are not covered by non-wage benefits such as health insurance or unemployment benefits.

So far, their working conditions have not been a priority for most governmental, political or labour organisations. They are mostly women.

Further information: 

- For more detail, see factsheet 7.

- Read the Clean Clothes Campaign report The Global Garment Industry and the Informal Sector.

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