Briefing: Wages in Sri Lanka’s garment industry, context for the NEXT factory closure

Oct 6, 2025 | reports

The factory closure of the NEXT Manufacturing Ltd Katunayake plant in May 2025 saw 1416 unionised workers suddenly dismissed, without proper notice or consultation. Statements issued by NEXT about the reasons for the choice to close included that it found that the plant was no longer profitable enough. This paper provides some economic context to this statement.