Amid the initial COVID-19 outbreaks in 2020, Better Work Vietnam launched a project known as GEAR to help factories improve productivity by providing female workers with the necessary skills to become leaders of production lines.
During the 2020-2021 period, 80% of factories participating in the GEAR programme reported increased productivity in their production lines.
Director of Better Work Dan Rees said that when female workers have their say in the workplace, the rate of legal compliance will increase and the working conditions will become better.
He added that workers will enjoy greater social security benefits while factories will earn higher profits.
Dan Rees emphasised that during the post-pandemic recovery and development period, the task of improving gender equality in the workplace is more important than ever.
At the conference, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie stated that promoting gender equality in the workplace will benefit all, but remains to be a major global challenge.
She said that provisions in Vietnam’s current Labour Code on the responsibility of employers in supporting children day-care, preventing sexual harassment and equal pay for equal work are important strategies for the garment and footwear sectors to grow more strongly and become more resilient.
About 70% of the five million workers in Vietnam’s garment and footwear sectors are women.
