Ethiopia has attracted a substantial volume of FDI towards its manufacturing sector and particularly towards light industries established in the growing number of industrial parks. The arrival of these investors comes with substantial demand for labour, one of the key priority objectives of the Ethiopian government in a context of a large pool of young labour potentially suitable to work in light manufacturing. The process is currently in its early stages and the usual teething problems associated with the emergence of new industries and the building of a new industrial labour force are clearly in sight. This paper documents findings from ongoing research on labour relations in the new industrial parks of Ethiopia and the governance issues arising from the management of these processes. In particularly the paper will focus on issues concerning the sourcing/recruitment of workers, their retention (and reduction of already high turnover rates) and the management of conflict over conditions, specifically the question of unionisation and lack of.
The paper will particularly focus on the different institutional mechanisms set up by government, firms and industrial parks to address those challenges. It will also look at learning processes whereby state and capital adapt practices to shifting constraints and negotiate new terms over the question of labour management in emerging industries. The paper is based on qualitative research conducted in three industrial parks and in factories outside industrial parks in Ethiopia over the period 2016-2018.