2019/20 Mercator-IPC Fellow Gökçe Uysal and independent researcher Engin Volkan’s policy brief “Syrian Workers and Informality in the Textile Sector in Istanbul” was published.
In Istanbul, many Syrians are employed informally in the textile, apparel, and leather industries and work under precarious conditions. Turkish firms’ strong demand for labor in these industries remains unsatiated as Turkish workers are constantly shifting toward jobs in the service sector, where the working conditions are considered to be better. This policy brief examines the dire working conditions that are pushing Turkish workers out of the textile industry and the worsening conditions for Syrians who fill these gaps. The policies proposed serve the dual purpose of fighting informality, which has detrimental effects on Turkish and Syrian workers alike, and making more efficient use of the Syrian labor force in a trench of the labor market where supply remains scant.
Read more here.
