YANGON - An estimated 220,000 garment workers - most of them women - lost their jobs in Myanmar last year because of the combined effects of the military coup and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The figure is revealed in a new report from the ILO on the anniversary of the coup, on 1st February 2021, which says that a total of 1.6 million jobs have been lost in the troubled country over the last 12 months.
The report says that the garment industry has been hit particularly hard, with the global pandemic-driven decrease in consumer demand for garments adding to the economic impact of the military takeover.
