Half a million more jobs could go
05/01/2009
Weakening export markets could force India's export-oriented leather industry to shed 500,000 jobs in the first part of the year, industry sources have warned.
Across India, the leather industry currently employs about 2.5 million people, but continuing falls in demand overseas, particularly in Europe and the US, could mean as many as 20% of these jobs will go.
After achieving leather and leathergoods export growth of 17% from April to August last year (with a value of around $1.6 billion), exports have since begun to fall.
"Exports were down 15% in November and 20% in December," said Mukhtarul Amin, chairman of India’s Council for Leather Exports.
He said somewhere between 350,000 and 500,000 workers in the sector had lost their jobs since September and that another half a million would be out of work in the next four or five months.
He said Indian exporters were facing order cancellations, while several buyers have asked suppliers to hold shipments. He said the demand for finished leather exports has dropped by 50% in the last three months.
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