Australian fashion brand Outland Denim has reported that 26.2% of its Cambodian workforce exited the brand’s factory as of June 2022.
In its latest Impact Report, Outland Denim noted this staff attrition coincided with a reduction in overtime hours after two years of sustaining its workforce through Covid-19.
According to the report, staff attrition refers to the loss of employees through a natural process - such as retirement, resignation, elimination of a position, personal health, or other similar reasons.
“With attrition, an employer will not fill the vacancy left by the former employee,” the report reads. “While we hope to provide a work environment that is desirable to be in and contributes to the thriving of all parties touched by our impact, we do not force or coerce staff to work with us.
“Staff are free to put in their notice when they decide to move toward a preferred employment option for them and their families (for many staff, working at Outland is a means, not an end).”
Outland Denim highlighted that there is no forced overtime across the brand’s workforce. They are voluntary and capped at two hours per day in busy production seasons.
Exit interviews with a representative cohort of outgoing employees found that 46% left to relocate for family reasons, including to care for loved ones or find work in their hometowns; 15% left to start their own businesses; and 15% for personal or family health reasons.
Outland Denim cited the transient nature of the Cambodian garment workforce and the strong familial ties within Cambodian culture - particularly for women - as driving forces.
The interviewed cohort represented 40% of all outgoing employees.
“Despite paying a living wage, we have been unable to provide our Cambodian staff with the overtime hours to which they had become accustomed just as inflation ate into family incomes,” Outland Denim CEO James Bartle wrote in the report. “This has meant that some of the people previously benefiting from employment with Outland Denim have gone on to pursue alternative wage-making options.
“While exit interviews with a sample of staff have helped us to understand some of their choices, we are unable to monitor the movements of everyone. But it’s our hope that every single person who comes to work with us has benefited in some way from doing so.”
Despite the staff attrition, Bartle said all of its directly employed staff have continued to receive a living wage, among other benefits from the brand.
According to the Impact Report, 90.5% of Cambodian team members were tested for cervical cancer for the first time, with 89.5% of these learning about cervical cancer for the first time.
Two-fifths, or 39% of its Cambodian team received a promotion in FY22, and 40% reported growth in their leadership skills.
Meanwhile, 91% of staff received a wage increase.
“To think about the backgrounds that some of these team members have come from, and the things that they have experienced, I am so proud to see this impact,” Bartle wrote. “Yes, money is key, education is key, employment is key, but to know that we have helped people improve how they think about themselves - there is no greater metric.”