Digitalisation without automation in Cambodian garment factories

5 min read

The Cambodian economy relies on agriculture, tourism and the garment sector to provide employment. Some may ask if automation is impacting these jobs, but its progress in the garment industry lags that of other sectors. While machines handle certain tasks, such as weaving and knitting, essential tasks such as sewing still require human dexterity. Nonetheless, digitalisation processes (such as mobile money) are impacting these workplaces in a variety of ways. Demands for efficiency, profitability and compliance have all pushed Cambodian factories to adopt various digitalisation methods such as mobile money wallets, digital grievance mechanisms, sustainability tracking and heat sensors.

Mobile money wallets

The payment of wages in Cambodian factories is becoming increasingly digital as employers shift from cash to mobile money wallets. This is seen as beneficial for employers, who can reduce costs, as well as for the workers themselves, who can send the money to their families in rural areas.

Such digital wage transfers are attractive to employers due to cost and efficiency savings, avoiding, for example, the long hours workers spend waiting to collect cash at the office. A study commissioned by Better Factories Cambodia (a joint ILO/IFC programme) found that workers, 85% of whom are women, liked the timeliness and accuracy of digital payments. It also cited some evidence of increased savings via bank accounts. Some workers who regularly sent money back to their families in rural Cambodia found mobile payments easier than cash. Out of the total number of women garment workers in Cambodia, 64% are internal migrants. For factories in Phnom Penh, 97% of the female workforce are internal migrants. 

However, Lawreniuk  also found that wage digitalisation created challenges for individuals with limited digital literacy. It also introduced new barriers, such as the need to have a functional mobile phone. Further, those employees who preferred the security of cash would immediately withdraw the money, so the queues at factory offices simply shifted to the nearest ATM. Vendors in local markets and landlords near the six factories generally still preferred receiving cash, thus limiting the usefulness of mobile money wallets for day-to-day payments.

Grievance mechanisms and training

The introduction of Germany’s ethical supply chain laws has driven the adoption of digital grievance mechanisms, transforming how factory workers can report critical issues directly to global brands or participate in training. Such apps or message services allow factory workers to report issues such as poor working conditions or sexual harassment directly to brands such as Adidas or Puma using their phones. One Indonesian-based company, Labor Solutions, uses a mobile app named WOVO on behalf of brands as a worker grievance case management system in Cambodia. Garment factory workers currently use the platform for multilingual communication with brands through text, images, audio, feedback surveys and payslips from factory management. To support its women’s empowerment strategy, Puma has also set up an e-learning course on Discrimination and Elimination of Violence and Harassment via WOVO, offered to 51% of workers across eight factories in Cambodia and Indonesia.  But yet again, the digital divide still exists, as do privacy concerns if factory management gains access to grievance data and can threaten or coerce employees into retracting complaints.

Sustainability tracking

Efforts to create sustainable supply chains have spurred the integration of digital tracking technologies, revolutionising how garments are monitored within global value chains to improve efficiency and accountability. Digital systems enable real-time tracking of production progress using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, which use radio waves to identify specific items of clothing as they move through the supply chain. Companies such as Nike and Levi Strauss & Co. use such tags to store data on environmental impact, including water usage, greenhouse gases and labour safety. As this technology becomes more integrated, the required skills and infrastructure expand, increasing the potential for failures, technical issues and delays. 

Higher up at the Cambodian sector level, the CamFact platform gathers sustainability data on factories. This allows buyers to quickly evaluate the social and environmental scores of factories when seeking new suppliers, rather than collecting data manually via phone calls or email. This, along with global platforms such as Open Supply Hub, leverage digital technology to facilitate more transparent supply chains.

Wearable heat sensors

Meanwhile, innovative research has led to wearable body heat sensors being used to quantify the rising impact of climate change on Cambodian garment workers due to heat in factories. Researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London are utilising such body heat sensors to measure excessive heat due to climate change. The small, Swiss-made devices collected data from garment workers for 42 days over 6 months. They found that 0.4-3.3% of workers experience heat stress, depending on the month, with unsafe core temperatures exceeding 29.2 degrees Celsius. The heat led to a 30% decrease in productivity and a 7.6% reduction in monthly incomes for those affected by heat stress, highlighting the direct economic impact of climate change.

Clearly, while automation has not yet replaced garment sector jobs, workplace digitalisation is reshaping the industry in significant ways. The examples discussed – digital payment systems, trans-continental worker-company communication platforms, garment tracking technologies and heat sensors – illustrate how digital tools are prioritising areas with immediate impacts on efficiency, transparency and sustainability. These areas are likely to be the first to be digitalised owing to their direct link to brand accountability, global consumer demands and measurable outcomes in productivity and environmental impact. However, other areas, such as broader worker rights or holistic well-being, remain less explored and may represent the next frontier of digital transformation. As digitalisation progresses, it has the potential to enhance worker well-being and rights, provided that privacy concerns and accessibility gaps are addressed. Forward-thinking policymakers must not only leverage these technologies to improve working conditions and environmental outcomes, but also ensure that they empower workers and uphold their rights within the evolving garment sector.