Is the labor shortage returning? !
I saw a video posted by a textile boss from Dieshiqiao Home Textile City on the Internet. It probably means that the market has undergone major changes in November:
This illustrates two facts:
1. The grab for fabrics is over;
2. The labor shortage problem has returned coming!
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.
From robbing fabrics to robbing workers, textile boss: It’s too difficult!
The market suddenly broke out in October, which led to a surge in orders for autumn and winter down jackets and cotton fabrics such as nylon, pongee, and polyester taffeta. The market was also out of stock for a while. , waiting in line for goods, textile bosses have ushered in the best “honeymoon period” of the year. The inventory of marketable products has dropped sharply, and the prices of individual gray fabrics have also risen.
(In terms of startup rate, the production load of Jiangsu and Zhejiang clusters suddenly jumped to a high of 90%, an increase of about 15% compared with the same period last year)
(In terms of inventory, gray cloth inventory has also fallen from the high of 45 days in the previous period, and dropped to about 40 days at the end of October)
The surge in the market has made production Enterprises changed their past practice of reducing production and taking turns to take holidays, and began to produce 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 a sudden outbreak of market conditions, the problem of labor shortage is about to break out!
“Due to the epidemic this year, after construction originally started in March, a small number of migrant workers did not come back and chose to stay in their hometowns for development. Later, due to the impact of the downturn in the market, we We have no choice but to eliminate some workers. After the current market picks up, the problem of workers has arisen. We have received orders for December, but due to lack of workers, the factory can only operate 60% of the machines.” A knitted fabric worker said the textile boss.
If you look at this year’s market situation alone, the reality of the labor shortage is incredible. After all, the problem that plagued textile workers in the early stage was “difficulty in employment.” “.
Because of the “super black swan” of the new coronavirus epidemic, many textile and garment companies have no choice but to withdraw from the market this year, and a large number of workers have lost their jobs. According to normal logic, once the market picks up, it should not be difficult for factories to recruit workers.
But the reality is not like this. 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.
In November, the market gradually showed signs of cooling down, especially the volume of market goods transactions was significantly weakened, but orders were still placed to a certain extent. In order to grab a good harvest in the last quarter, those who have orders on hand Textile bosses still want to recruit workers to harvest, so the problem of “difficulty in recruiting workers” has always existed!
The “honeymoon period” is coming to an end, and the follow-up of subsequent orders is a mystery!
This year’s textile bosses are always anxious and worried about gains and losses. The employment problem is only one of the major factors that troubles the company’s collection efficiency, and the continuity of orders is their biggest concern. This round of market was originally caused by the explosion of terminal demand, so it came more violently. However, in November, the Double Eleven e-commerce season has begun, and early replenishment orders have basically ended. Many of the reorders currently on hand by manufacturers are in preparation for Double Eleven.
A textile boss who makes Oxford cloth said: “Currently there are not many orders on hand. The orders for the filament Oxford cloth that were popular in the early stage are also average. The market production and sales have begun to become uneven, and the inventory is lower than last week.” Rise.”
Another textile boss who makes pongee fabrics also said that customers’ purchasing patterns have begun to change: “In the past, customers were scheduled to ship goods every day, but recently it has been several days. I only received one shipment, and the quantity is not large. The market comes and goes in a hurry, and our production and sales have begun to become uneven!”
This year’s “Double 11” sales will start, and the sales will be different from November 1 to 11. activities have also led to a longer e-commerce season cycle and relatively scattered orders. Therefore, many clothing factories and e-commerce companies are desperately preparing for October.In November, purchasing returned to rationality, and weaving manufacturers’ shipments dropped significantly.
According to the purchasing habits of end consumers in previous years, the consumption intensity of Double 11 is much greater than that of Double 12. In addition, it is still in the e-commerce season recently and the sales results are still unknown. Therefore, e-commerce companies are currently not ready to stock Double 11. The intention of Twelve is not strong, and the placing of orders is relatively slow, and the transactions are mostly small orders.
“Recently, our Double Eleven orders have been delivered, and customers have not placed many Double Eleven orders.” said a textile boss who makes velvet fabrics.
Afterword
For textile bosses, the previous employment issues have not yet been resolved. Follow-up orders have not been followed up enough, but in the face of the machines that have been started, we cannot just stop. After all, according to tradition, the sales volume in the fourth quarter also accounts for a large share of the whole year, especially in the foreign trade market in order to catch up. For shipments before the Spring Festival, orders for next year will usually be placed in December, and the market is likely to usher in another “small peak season” for sales.
However, the epidemic is currently breaking out again in Europe. Many countries have begun to tighten anti-epidemic measures. Economic activities have decreased, which has once again weakened end-use consumption levels. It is difficult to say to what extent foreign trade orders can return to previous years, but at least It will heat up the market. </p
