G²LM|LIC - Reducing Extreme Poverty through Skill Training for Industry Job Placement

The experimental intervention of this study was inspired by the Department for International Development (DFID)-funded training program conducted in the Northern Bangladesh by Gana Unnayan Kendra (GUK). By employing randomized controlled trial (RCT) technique, this study addresses which component of a successful training program helps individuals find and secure jobs in the manufacturing sector in general and RMG sector in particular. The researchers provided four different variations of job-related interventions randomly to eligible participants which are the following: Day-long job-related information session, One-month long residential skill training, Month-long residential training with financial stipend for migration and forgone income and, Same as 3. with one month paid internship (on-the-job training) in a factory located in the capital city (Full treatment). The interventions were conducted with an active collaboration with a local NGO (GUK) in the north-eastern part (Gaibandha) of Bangladesh, one of the poverty stricken areas of Bangladesh. To select the sample for this experiment, a short survey to recruit eligible participants (eligibility requires that the prospective participant is interested in training if offered an opportunity) from a large population on the basis of age, education and poverty status was conducted. After having the list of eligible participants for the study, each participant was randomly assigned to either a control group or to receive one of the interventions from the above mentioned four treatments. Before the randomization, a baseline study has been conducted to collect detailed information about the participants and their households. Six months after receiving the intervention, the participants were surveyed again over the phone for a short follow-up survey. A detailed panel survey of each participant was done after one year of the intervention. A second follow-up survey of the participants was done 18 months after the intervention. To track the participants for the purpose of the survey, each participant was given a mobile-phone connection and airtime topup incentive as a reward for participating in each of theses surveys.