Shein is an e-retail giant that saw its profits soar during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Its formula of offering a wide range of cheap clothes – supported by campaigns on Instagram, TikTok and other social media – has turned it into one of the biggest fashion retailers in the world.
Shein relies on thousands of third-party suppliers, as well as contract manufacturers, near its headquarters in Guangzhou, and is able to manufacture a new product in weeks, rather than months.
Terrible conditions
But what about working conditions at the Chinese giant’s suppliers? Research by the Swiss Public Eye shows that the people who make the clothes do not spend their hours in a working paradise. Specifically they work 75 hours a weekdespite the company’s promise to improve conditions.
Public Eye interviewed 13 workers from six factories in China that supply Shein. As they said excessive overtime is still common practice for workers according to the BBC.
“I work every day from 8am to 10.30pm and I get one day off every month. I can’t afford any more days off because it costs too much,” said a sewing machine worker.
The respondents (who worked in production sites west of Nancun Village in Guangzhou in southern China), aged between 23 and 60, they stated that they worked 6-7 days a week, an average of 12 hours a daywhich did not include lunch and dinner breaks.
Shein’s Supplier Code of Conduct states that employees must not work more than 60 hours per week, including overtime.
Shein’s response
In its response to the latest report, Shein said long working hours in the sector were “a shared challenge that firms, manufacturers and others must work together to address”.
He added that this is not a problem unique to Shein, but is “committed to playing its part to improve the situation in our own supply chain.”
Check out the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of Shein five months ago:
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