Some Shein suppliers still working 75-hour weeks despite working condition improvements

Chinese fast fashion giant, Shein, is under scrutiny once again after a new report reveals workers for some of its suppliers are still working 75-hour weeks, despite promises to improve working conditions.

Shein relies on thousands of third-party suppliers and contract manufacturers, near its headquarters in Guangzhou, to turn around new items of clothing in a matter of weeks.

An investigation by Swiss advocacy group Public Eye, which follows up on its 2021 report, has unveiled that staff across six sites in Guangzhou were doing excessive overtime.

For the latest investigation, the group interviewed 13 employees from six factories in China that supply Shein. The factory employees were interviewed in the summer of 2023.

An employee who has worked at sewing machines for 20 years told Public Eye: "I work every day from 8 in the morning to 10.30 at night and take one day off each month. I can’t afford any more days off because it costs too much."

Despite these allegations, Shein has already committed $70 million over five years, up till 2028, for various initiatives to support its suppliers. These initiatives include $15 million worth of factory upgrading and enhancements as well as increased audit coverage.

A spokesperson for Shein told TheIndustry.fashion: "This small sample size should be seen in the context of our comprehensive ongoing process to continually improve our supply chain, which involves engaging with thousands of suppliers and workers within the supply chain."

Established in 2008, the business has mushroomed due to its cheap clothing and appeal to Gen Z consumers. It is now valued at around £53.8 billion.

It offers dresses for as little as £5 to bargain-hunting customers across the globe. Thanks to the boom in e-commerce during the Covid pandemic, sandwiched with popular campaigns on Instagram and TikTok, it has turned into one of the biggest fashion retailers in the world.

Workers sewing clothes for Shein in Guangzhou, 2023. Courtesy of Public Eye.

Interviewees, aged between 23 and 60, said they worked 12-hour days on average, not including breaks for lunch and dinner. On average, they work six to seven days a week.

Shein's Code of Conduct for its suppliers states that workers should not work longer than 60 hours a week, including overtime.

Workers also claimed their wages had hardly changed since 2021 and fluctuated between 6,000 to 10,000 yuan monthly (£663 to £1,104 a month).

Public Eye said the wage for workers after deducting overtime pay is 2,400 yuan (£265). According to the Asia Floor Wage Alliance, a living wage in China is around 6,512 yuan (£719).

Workers also claimed that if they made a mistake, they would have to make any alterations to the clothes unpaid. One supervisor said: "Whoever makes the mistake is responsible for putting it right. You have to fix the problem in your own working time."

The spokesperson said: "While we do not recognise many of the allegations in this report, the discussion on working hours and wages raised by Public Eye is important to us, and we have made significant progress on enhancing conditions across our ecosystem."

"As a result of our [ongoing] efforts, research conducted by our third-party auditors across more than 4,000 workers at SHEIN supplier facilities in China has found that they earn basic salaries (before overtime) that are on average, two times higher than the local minimum wage, and more than 50% higher than the Global Living Wage Coalition's 2022 living wage for Shenzhen."

This news breaks as Shein plots a London Stock Market float. Initially, the retailer planned to float in the US, however, it faced regulatory hurdles and pushback from U.S. lawmakers.

The online fashion retailer plans to update China's securities regulator on the change of the initial public offering (IPO) venue and file with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as soon as this month, according to Reuters' sources.

It was initially reported that Shein was in talks with London Stock Exchange bosses at the end of last year and reports suggest its £71 million listing is imminent, though there has been no confirmation by the company.