The feminisation of employment in particular sectors is not necessarily associated with genuine improvements in the material and social situation of women. As economies compete against each other under conditions of trade liberalisation, a hidden consequence is the phenomenon of women in different countries competing against each other. This has the effect of driving down wages and working conditions, as economies vie to develop ever more competitive edges.

There are about 200 export processing zones in some 50 countries around the world, employing approximately two million workers. According to UNCTAD, 80% of these workers are women, mostly between 16 and 25 years of age. They work hours that are 25 percent longer than schedules prevailing in other firms, and women are paid 20 to 50 percent less than men working in the same zones. (See World Investment Report, 1994, New York, United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations.).

One woman's gain may be another woman's loss. For example, in Africa, women’s informal sector businesses and women employed in small-scale industries have been badly hit by trade liberalisation. Women involved in sisal bag manufacturing in Kenya are now losing market share to imported mass-produced imitations from Southeast Asia. (See Noeleen Heyzer (1998) in Vivienne Wee (ed), Trade Liberalisation: Challenges and opportunities for women in Southeast Asia and beyond.