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2002-10-28 14:03:48, 조회 : 55 |
Industrial Restructuring and Impacts on Women Workers
Prepared for: Committee for Asian Women (CAW)
September 1994
EAST ASIA OVERVIEW
Hong Kong and South Korea
I. Trends in manufacturing
(Hong Kong: Tables 1-6, p. 1-4)
(Korea: Tables 2-5, p. 5-8)
A. Decline in manufacturing sector
(Hong Kong)
- There is overall decline in manufacturing sector as a whole.
- The decline in the proportion of GNP of manufacturing drops from 22.3% to 15.2% (86-91)
(Korea)
- No overall statistics for the manufacturing sector are offered (can be provided if necessary).
- It is difficult to argue in the Korean case for an overall decline in manufacturing. It is still considered an important sector for the economy, and government funding is being directed towards heavy, chemical industries like automobiles, steel, and high-tech electronics.
- The Korean report argues that the decline is mainly in light, labor-intensive manufacturing industries like garment and shoes. One statistic comparing our three industries with others is offered on page 14, which compares total production worker employment in our industries with steel and automobiles.
B. Decline in women workers
(Hong Kong)
- Manufacturing decline has had disproportionate effects on women workers/
- The declines are 26.4% for women, 12.4% for men, from 1986-91.
- Male-female comparisons are not given by occupational type, but total production workers were cited to have decreased from 44.2% of total employment to 31.5% from 1986-91; the number and percentage of decrease are not given.
- As the years of major decline are different in Korea and Hong Kong, different configurations may have to be calculated for better comparison.
(Korea)
- Loss of manufacturing employment has disproportionate effects on women workers.
- Decline totals 14.1% for women from 1989-93. In absolute numbers, the decrease was greater in Korea (291,000 workers compared to 115,000 in Hong Kong).
- Male-female comparison is only given for 1992: 6.9% for women, 0.6% for men.
- By occupational type, female reduction among production workers was 7.4%; male, 0.4% in 1992. The fall in total production worker reductions, as well as the proportion of production workers of total employment, can be calculated from table 4, if comparisons are to be made with Hong Kong statistics in table 3.
C. Other trends (Korea)
- Increase in overall women's economic participation (42.5% to 47.2% from 1980-93, from table 2)
- Increase in married women in manufacturing (13% to 42% from 1981-92, from table 5)
- Increase in educational level among manufacturing women workers (17% to 50% high school graduate from 1981-92, from table 6).
II. Economic development history, 1950's-1970's
(Hong Kong: general p. 4-6, garment & textiles p. 13-20, electronics p. 23-27)
(Korea: garment, shoes, electronics only p. 9-11)
A. Role of state and banking
(Hong Kong)
- The state in Hong Kong has been uninvolved in the economic development process, except in the areas of social wages and public housing subsidies. Mostly, it has made labor laws very beneficial for industry and has not offered any long-term funding or direction for industries.
- The financial sector and the state are said to be institutionally separated. Industries hence could not receive long-term, large-sum funding from the state through the financial system.
(Korea)
- The state has played a large role. The Five-Year Development Plans under the Park, Chung Hee regime (1962-1979) represented overall announcements on the direction of and funding for selected industries. The last major restructuring effort occurred in the 1970's when the government made the first push towards heavy, chemical manufacturing.
- The banking system has been almost completely dominated by the state. Only recently is the government making moves to privatize the financial sector. Much government funding for industries are still funneled through state-owned banks.
B. Role of international division of labor
- This factor is similar in both cases.
- The electronics industry in both countries were relatively more dependent on production by foreign firms.
- Industrial restructuring in the First World has also had effects on both Hong Kong and Korea as they became recipients of offshore producers from the First World.
- International subcontracting is mentioned as a major production method. Korea relies heavily on international subcontracting through the OEM system, in which First World producer send raw materials to Korean manufacturers, who produce and export finished goods with the brand name of the First World company.
- Korean government passed a variety of laws to attract foreign investment in the 1970's.
C. Size of establishment
(Hong Kong)
- Hong Kong made the move towards flexible production and subcontracting much earlier than Korea. Manufacturing is said to have been made of 86.5% small firms in 1971. Subcontracting was frequent during the major period of growth in the industries during the 1970's.
(Korea)
- Korea has relied on production by large, chaebol firms that have close ties with the state.
- Subcontracting did not come about until the late 1980's as a major restructuring strategy. Huge companies with thousands of women workers were the normal type of production in the 1960's and 1970's.
D. Female labor and labor organizing
(Hong Kong)
- The majority of the labor force is said to have come from refugees from China.
- Most workers were also women (72.5%, 47.4%, 75.7% for garment, textile, and electronics industries in 1975).
- The labor movement was weak.
- Temporary and subcontract workers were used even before 1980 to add flexibility to the labor market.
(Korea)
- In Korea, the majority of labor came from young, single women migrating from the countryside to the cities.
- The predominance of women workers in manufacturing also occurred in the Korean case. The percentage of women workers is 80%, 55%, and 69% in garment, shoes, and electronics in 1975. Job segregation is just as severe.
- The labor movement began to gain strength in the late 1970's and early 1980's, and proceeded in accordance with the general social movement for democracy in this period.
- Temporary and subcontract workers were not very prevalent during this period. Huge numbers of workers were concentrated into large factories.
III. Restructuring, late 1980's-present
(Hong Kong: general p. 7-10, garment & textiles p. 20-22, electronics p. 28-30)
(Korea: general decline 12-15, state policies 16-21, capital strategies 21-33)
A. Decline in women's manufacturing employment
For Hong Kong, the tables on p. 17, 18, 26, and 28 show decreases in women's employment in the textile, garment, and electronics industries. For Korea, Tables 11, 12, and 13 show the major decreases in women's production employment in the garment, shoe, and electronics industries. Percent decreases in Korean women production workers over the period 1987-92 are 33.8% and 35.3% for garment and electronics, and the decrease between 1987-90 is 28% for the shoe industry.
Both countries attest to larger decreases among production workers. Korean statistics all indicate figures for production workers only, and comparisons with administrative/managerial workers are only made for electronics (Table 14). These comparisons can be sent later if needed, but it is definitely the case that the majority of worker retractions have occurred among production workers. Comparisons of worker reductions by occupational type are only given for the garment industry in Hong Kong's case.
The disproportionate effects on production workers indicates more impacts on women workers because women dominate lower-level work. Job segregation by gender (ie-the predominance of women in lower-level work) is shown in detail on p. 19-20 for the garment industry in Hong Kong. This table shows more women in lower-level positions and more retractions in these positions. The Korean report shows job segregation because all the statistics are on production workers, and the majority of these workers are women. (Government statistics used only classified workers into two categories: production and administrative/managerial workers.) The Korean statistics also show that among production workers, women were retracted more.
B. State priorities
Hong Kong's government has been characterized as continuing its stance of non-intervention in the period of industrial restructuring. It has not offered any long-term assistance for technological upgrading or R&D.
In Korea's case, the government is beginning to show signs of withdrawing from the economy, repealing Cultivation Laws, which used to direct government funding to selected industries, and privatizing several banking institutions. However, the government's role remains strong. It offers some "rationalization" funding for declining industries, which includes support for foreign investment, machinery replacement, or business type transfers. This funding is not meant to fundamentally upgrade product quality or technology. This upgrading assistance is offered through funding for "growing" industries, which includes funding for nationalized parts production, technological development, and some special provisions for small and medium-sized industries. This funding is reserved for heavy, chemical industries in particular. The third type of funding is available for modern, high-tech industries. It seems that the government is heading towards the production of more and more sophisticated industries like aerospace and high-tech electronics.
Labor policies to deal with the consequences of restructuring were introduced in the 1990's. Before this period, labor protections were retracted when industrial restructuring was deemed a valid reason for worker dismissals and when labor union involvement in business and management decisions were outlawed. Later policies dealt with the issues of unemployment and labor shortage. The first targetted employment insurance and job training, while the latter focued on fostering temporary employment for women and bringing in foreign workers.
C. Capital strategies
Hong Kong's report cites relocation abroad, short-term contracting, and temporary workers as the major strategies in the garment and textile industries. Very little technological upgrading is said to have taken place, except for some automation in the textile industry. The government is also said to be bringing in foreign workers by claiming labor shortages in manufacturing.
The Korean case is not as clear-cut. Many shutdowns have occurred, particularly in the shoe industry. Offshore relocation is definitely increasing in the three industries, but the most prominent trend is towards subcontracting, especially in the garment and shoe industries. The shoe industry, more severely hit by industrial crisis, has used more short-term contracting and home-based subcontracting. Some business type transfers and domestic relocation are also attempted with government assistance. Temporary workers are not used to a great extent yet in the manufacturing sector and is a greater issue in the service and clerical sectors. The government is also bringing in foreign workers and perceives labor shortage to be a huge issue for manufacturing.
However, the long-term goals of all three industries seem to be to try to upgrade production and move towards more sophisticated products. The electronics industry is most favored by the government in this regard and receives much funding for the nationalization of parts production and technological assistance for the production of high-tech products. The garment and shoe industries enjoy less government funding for upgrading, but there is talk of moving towards an Italian-model type of small-scale, diversified, high fashion production. The development of domestic fashions and designs is seen to be essential to reduce dependence on international subcontracting. Some automation has occurred in electronics, but mostly in labor-intensive production steps, and it has not been intended for fundamental product upgrading or technological development.
V. Impacts on women workers
(Hong Kong p. 54-80)
(Korea: p. 33-54)
A. Unemployment and underemployment
Job loss is common for both Korea and Hong Kong due to company shutdowns or retractions of production. For those women experiencing company shutdowns, the impacts are mass lay-off's and unpaid compensation.
Underemployment is a greater issue for Hong Kong, where the exit of industries has greatly reduced the number of jobs available to women. The step-by-step exit of companies resulted in underemployment for workers. Older women who have remained in the manufacturing sector have to rely on short-term subcontract work that is very irregular and results in reduced pay. The reasons for these women to stay are due to relatively higher pay in the sector and the possibility of receiving redundancy payments.
In Korea, shutdowns were also common, especially in the shoe industry. Unpaid compensation and mass lay-off's are impacts that are similar to the Hong Kong case. However, underemployment is less of an issue except in the shoe industry, where workers work as home-based parts producers on an irregular basis. There are many cases particularly of older women who are almost half-unemployed.
Outside the shoe industry, production retractions have resulted in other impacts. Company shutdowns also occur gradually in Korea, but not because of original rule requirements but because of the strength of the labor movement in Korea and the consequent desire of companies to reduce personnel gradually on a "voluntary" basis. These tactics have impacted workers who have to deal with strategies like reduced work and pay, line retractions, and frequent division moves in an effort to retract workers. Women are more vulnerable to these retraction tactics. Because labor shortage is viewed to be a greater problem, underemployment is not as severe an issue in the garment or electronics industries. Continuous worker retractions through inducements of voluntary exits of women workers are a greater issue for Korean workers.
Women who remain in the factories even after retractions also undergo increased intensification of work. This occurs because of automation and the efforts of the company to increase productivity with less workers.
B. Subcontract work as marginalized employment
In Hong Kong, subcontract work now seems to occur simultaneously with underemployment. But, in Korea, though subcontract production has existed for a long time, it has expanded drastically in the 1980's and 1990's and is becoming a more institutionalized form of production in the garment and electronics industries, particularly because these industries face labor shortages due to the exit of younger workers. We cannot say that underemployment exists to a large extent in subcontracting, for these factories are generally said to be short of labor. Subcontract workers undergo a cut in wages, longer hours, harsh working conditions, and less opportunities for labor organizing. Women workers also face a gender-based job segregation similar to what they faced in the original factory.
Subcontract workers are mostly married women. The reasons for their remaining in the manufacturing sector are centered around their family responsibilities and the vicinity of subcontract work to their place of residence.
C. Casual and temporary work
The Hong Kong report documents the increase of casual work in the form of part-time, subcontract, and temporary work mostly in the service sector. Part-time work is seen to be based on gender biases against women's work as secondary in the family economy. It is also interpreted as a strategy to deal with an oversupply of labor in comparison to demand.
These workers suffer from lowered wage, irregular hours, and exclusion from all benefits and welfare payments. Workers dispatched by subcontract agencies also have little protection for their rights because workers are no longer hired by the company where they actually do their work. The agency system serves as a way to divide workers and avoid problems of labor organizing. The final form of casual employment was self-employment, which is also unstable work. The drawbacks of this kind of work are summarized as low wages with no fringe benefits, uncertainty of tenure, and lack of protection by labor laws or organizations.
Part-time work in Korea has not yet spread very much in the manufacturing sector. What is being used is also based on gender biases, but government policies stress women's responsibility for childcare as a way of targetting married women for part-time work. In the service sector, the ideology that women will exit the labor market due to marriage is also used to use unmarried women workers as temporary workers. Also, companies are using part-time work and foreign migrant workers as a way of dealing with labor shortage, not labor oversupply. Part-time work is also accompanied by temporary contract work, daily work, and dispatch agency work.
Temporary workers in manufacturing usually work the same number of hours as full-time workers and hence suffer from blatant discrimination in wages and benefits. Most of these workers are older, subcontract workers who have no choice but to enter as part-time workers because of their childcare responsibilities. Like Hong Kong, they suffer from low wages, lack of legal protections and exclusion from organizing.
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