Paper Title
Managerial Perspectives on Automation and Human Factors: Evidence from the Bangladeshi Garment Industry

Abstract
Bangladesh is the 2nd largest exporter of garments in the world which is banked on its cheap labor source; more than 4 million workers are attached to this industry. This industry hasstarted to embrace automation which might displace millions of these workers in near future; such displacements give rise to various human factors. The aim of this research is to understand the perception of the human resource managers of the Bangladeshi RMG sectors regarding automation related displacement and management of related human factors. Overall view regarding automation, related training and compliance issues are investigated too. It is found thatlow-skilled workers are mostly displaced due to automation; however, in aggregate it does not decreasejobs. Management is mostly driven by the international buyers and compliance requirementswhile catering for human factors; even if training is considered as a vital factor for the automation success, majority of the sampled factories do not have (effective) in-house training facilities. These findings will be beneficial to the academic, HR managers of the Bangladeshi RMG industry, regulatory body, and related business associations. Keywords - Automation, Human factor, Ready-made Garment (RMG), Compliance