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Paper short abstract

Our paper addresses the drivers of and limitations to automation and technological upgrading in the apparel and footwear industries and their effects on men and women’s employment, quality of work and patterns of gender segregation.

Paper long abstract

Our paper addresses the drivers of and limitations to automation and technological upgrading in the apparel and footwear industries and their effects on men and women’s employment, quality of work and patterns of gender segregation. We use case studies of two apparel and two footwear factories in Indonesia based on factory visits and interviews with employers, technology specialists, workers and worker representatives. We find evidence that automation is integrating more men into production through the deskilling of sewing in footwear and in the operation of automatic and semi-automatic machines in both apparel and footwear production. Low wages remain an important cornerstone of firm strategies to maintain competitiveness and automation has not promoted a sharing of gains through “high-road” practices. While the reduction in the physical demands of certain shopfloor tasks weakened the traditional rationale for the gender division of labour, we did not identify corresponding shifts on the shopfloor.