The latest data shows that China’s exports of textiles, including masks, increased by 34.8% in the first ten months. Behind this, the transfer of textile orders from India to China is one of the important factors.
In the past Golden Nine and Silver Ten years, the return of orders from India has indeed brought a wave of warmth to the textile industry. Behind this wave of warmth, some companies have made a fortune, while others have To make matters worse.
More than one textile boss has complained to the editor that due to the lack of workers, production capacity has not reached full capacity, affecting order delivery. The person in charge of another manufacturer also said that the factory has only recently started to operate at full capacity. Last month, one factory only maintained 80% of its operating capacity due to worker problems. The main reason was the lack of skilled workers.
01 While orders are skyrocketing, labor shortages have appeared again
I saw a person from Dieshiqiao Home Textile City on the Internet before. The video posted by the textile boss probably means that the market has undergone major changes in November:
This shows Two facts:
1. The grab for fabrics is over;
2. The labor shortage problem is here again!
In fact, as early as October when the market suddenly improved, the problem of “labor shortage” began to enter the field of vision of textile people.
The market suddenly broke out in October, which led to a surge in orders for autumn and winter down jackets and cotton clothing fabrics, such as nylon spinning, pongee, and polyester taffeta. The market has also seen shortages and queues for goods. Textile bosses are experiencing the best “honeymoon period” of the year. The inventory of marketable products has dropped rapidly, and the prices of individual gray fabrics have also risen.
The surge in market prices has forced manufacturing companies to change their past practices of reducing production and taking turns to take holidays, and start producing at full capacity. As a labor-intensive industry, the textile industry requires workers to operate. However, as the market has been in a downturn in the first three quarters, many textile bosses have had no choice but to implement production cuts, holidays and wage discounts in order to cut expenses, resulting in the loss of workers.
Faced with the sudden outbreak of market conditions, the problem of labor shortage is about to break out!
02 Labor costs have increased significantly
The textile industry is a typical labor-intensive industry, and its labor force advantage has made China the number one in the world A large textile exporting country, but since 2012, as my country’s demographic dividend has gradually disappeared, labor costs have increased year by year. The survey shows that the wages of textile factory workers in the southeastern coastal areas are concentrated at 5,000-10,000 yuan, while the wages of workers in the central and western regions are roughly around 3,000-6,000 yuan.
“Five years ago, the company’s labor costs accounted for only 20%, and now it has reached 60%.” Wu Zhixiang, owner of Jiangsu Liqiang Textile Co., Ltd., said. In addition, employee instability and additional costs caused by accelerated turnover are also problems faced by the company.
He believes that the reason why it has risen so much is, on the one hand, the increase in the cost of living caused by inflation, and on the other hand, the decline in the working population. “For example, our textile industry In this industry, the work content is very hard, and those born in the 1980s will gradually retire. Those born in the 1990s don’t want to do it, and those born in the 2000s should not even think about it.”
The survey found that although business owners believe that the overall salary in the textile and garment industry is not low, employees are not very satisfied with it.
Liang Wei (pseudonym) has been engaged in the textile industry for 17 years. He has worked in Fujian for more than 9 years, and in Jiangsu for 3 years. After that, he worked in Guangzhou and Shantou for 2 years as a car driver. , management and machine repair, currently doing weaving work in Zhejiang, responsible for controlling 2 machines. When I am busy at work, I have to work 12 hours a day, work shifts in the morning and evening, have few holidays, and the pressure is quite high.
He said that the initial salary was only more than 4,000 yuan, but now it is more than 9,000 yuan on a monthly basis. “General workers look at two machines, and the basic salary is 7,500 yuan, but they have good skills. Two workers can look at 6 machines, which is an extra 7,500 yuan. The boss will increase the wages of these two people appropriately.”
Although the wages are getting more and more, but Liang Wei said, “I have been working for so many years, but I feel that the salary has not gone up. When wages are rising, prices are also rising.”
Deng Jian (pseudonym) also has similar feelings, He has been working in the textile industry for 11 years and is currently working as a shaker in a textile factory in Fujian. The salary is based on piecework, with a minimum of 1,800 yuan. If he works for one or two months, it will be more than 6,000 yuan. “Working in the textile industry, the salary is relatively stable. I worry about not having money to spend, but I have no problem supporting my family.”
However, he added, “Although wages have increased, prices have also increased. The more you earn, the more you spend.”
It is not only the cost of labor that has increased, but also the cost of raw materials. Chen Huan told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that in the past, the company’s labor cost was about 30%, and the material cost was 30%. Now the labor cost exceeds 50%, even reaching 60%, and the material cost is also 40%, so the current profit point It is difficult to reach 5%. Those with relatively large quantities can still make money, so price increases are inevitable.
Labor costs continue to increase, but product prices cannot be raised, and profit margins are compressed, causing textile companies to face pressure. At present, it seems that textile orders transferred from abroad can be retained for some time. But long-term retention is difficult.
03 Pain points in the upgrading and transformation of the textile industry
High labor costs, especially for enterprises in the east, have led to two trends in China’s textile and clothing industry chain. One One is from the east to the central and west, and one is from China to Southeast Asia and India.
In the eastern cities where the textile industry was one of the main industries, many cities have textile industries. The proportion of industries in local industries has declined.
For example, in 2015, the main business income of the above-scale industries in Zhejiang Huzhou was 408.24 billion yuan, and the textile industry was 5.16 billion yuan; but by 2019, the local above-scale industries The operating income of industry was 491.69 billion yuan, while the textile industry was only 2.41 billion yuan. In Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, the textile industry is one of the four major local traditional industries. However, in 2019, the output of the main products of industries above designated size in the city was in multiple sub-categories of textile and clothing. There has been a decline. For example, the total output of cloth in 2015 was 4.774 billion meters, and by 2019, the output of cloth was 1.337 billion meters.
The reasons for this kind of result lie in two aspects:
On the one hand, due to financial and cost pressures, many small and medium-sized enterprises have difficulty recruiting higher-level technical talents.
Generally speaking, factories can recruit workers, but they cannot recruit experienced masters. At the same time, some skilled workers believe that the textile and garment industry is tiring and do not intend to continue working in it. In fact, the lack of high-skilled workers is a dilemma for the entire textile and garment industry and even the manufacturing industry.
The market has high expectations for those with technical levels The employment demand for workers with professional and technical titles is greater than the supply, and the gap in employment demand for professional and technical personnel and senior skilled personnel is larger; compared with the previous quarter and the same period last year, the market demand for general workers and workers with a certain technical level is as high as Growth. From the demand side, 41.4% of market employment needs have clear requirements for technical levels or professional titles.
On the other hand, the high-end product market in the domestic textile and apparel industry has matured. The degree is not high yet. Chen Huan, the boss of Guangzhou Canping Clothing Co., Ltd., confessed that it is difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to produce high-end automated products. The main reason is that the domestic consumer population of high-end products is not large enough and the market for high-end products is not yet mature. ” We are also unable to produce high-quality products, which requires the promotion of the entire market. ”
In addition, machines are updated very quickly, and the cost of a machine is relatively high. If automation is promoted, productivity can increase by 10%-20% while the original number of workers remains unchanged. %, the profit point can be maintained at around 10%. But if old machines are used, the above effect cannot be achieved.
Currently, textile and clothing orders transferred from abroad can ” “To quench a temporary thirst”, the long-term development of the domestic textile and garment industry still needs to repeatedly balance high costs and high quality and move forward slowly.
In the face of the 11.11 crisis that has already arrived In the monthly market, in addition to grasping the current market share, we must also seize opportunities and continue to innovate and make breakthroughs.
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