New Insights Paper Unpacks Pay Equity in Türkiye's Fashion Manufacturing Sector

PARIS, Feb. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) has published a new insights paper, Unpacking Pay Equity in Fashion: Türkiye, examining the drivers of gender pay disparities in one of Europe's most important fashion sourcing hubs. Launched during a closed-door industry roundtable at the OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector in Paris, the insights paper explores how structural factors, including occupational segregation, care responsibilities, and limited data visibility, continue to shape pay outcomes for women in Türkiye's textile and apparel sector, while highlighting opportunities for coordinated action across policy makers, brands, other buyers, and suppliers.

The insights paper draws on a facility-level survey of 43 Turkish textile and apparel manufacturers, interviews with trade unions and worker associations, and input from social sustainability experts including the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP), the Fair Labor Association (FLA), and the Anker Research Institute (ARI). The findings offer a nuanced picture of pay equity in a sector that employs nearly one million formally registered workers and contributes approximately 7.8% of Türkiye's national GDP.

Key Findings:

Unpacking Pay Equity in Fashion: Türkiye highlights several key insights into pay equity within the Turkish fashion manufacturing industry:

• Türkiye's gender pay gap is estimated at between 15.6% and 17.4%. The EU average is around 12%. The insights paper cautions, however, that headline pay gap figures alone can mask deeper structural inequalities within the sector.
• Gender pay disparities are driven largely by structural factors rather than unequal pay for the same work, including occupational segregation, differences in career progression opportunities, cultural norms, access to training, and the distribution of care responsibilities.
• Women remain concentrated in lower-paid production, sewing and quality control roles, while men are more prevalent in higher-paid technical and supervisory positions – a key driver of persistent pay inequalities.
• The insights paper finds that limited measurement and disclosure of gender-disaggregated wage data continues to hinder companies' ability to identify where inequality sits – and therefore to address it effectively.
• Ongoing economic pressures, including inflation and rising production costs, have placed sustained strain on the sector. Despite this, many manufacturers are making concerted efforts to maintain formal employment, comply with labour laws and protect jobs, demonstrating resilience in challenging conditions.

Closing gender pay gaps is not only a social imperative but a business one. Improving pay equity can strengthen workforce morale, retention and long-term resilience, while supporting alignment with evolving EU regulatory and buyer expectations. As EU pay transparency and due diligence requirements increasingly affect global supply chains, brands sourcing from Türkiye require greater visibility into wage practices across their supply chains.

Federica Marchionni, CEO of Global Fashion Agenda, says: "Pay equity is fundamental to build a fair and resilient fashion industry. This research shows that gender pay gaps in Türkiye's fashion manufacturing sector are real, but they are also addressable. As progress depends on coordinated actions – from policymakers strengthening enabling frameworks, to brands adopting responsible purchasing practices, and suppliers embedding transparent, gender-responsive wage systems that reflect the realities of women's working lives – GFA will continue to accelerate impact by mobilising the industry toward a more resilient future."

The insights paper outlines practical recommendations for policymakers, brands, other buyers and suppliers. These include expanding access to childcare and parental support, strengthening formal employment and oversight of subcontracting, improving gender-disaggregated pay reporting, adopting responsible purchasing practices, and investing in women's skills development and leadership pathways. Collectively, these actions can strengthen Türkiye's manufacturing base, enhance women's economic participation, and advance the fashion industry towards a net-positive future in which pay equity is a lived reality.

Unpacking Pay Equity in Fashion: Türkiye is an openly accessible resource and available to download here.

CONTACT: 
press@globalfashionagenda.org 

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