China manufacturing: fresh lay-offs in the Pearl River Delta add to worries over economic slowdown
- Workers are losing jobs or seeing their incomes reduced at factories in China’s export manufacturing heartland, the Pearl River Delta
- Companies say they are facing coronavirus-induced supply chain disruptions, falling demand and a shift in orders to Southeast Asia
In the Pearl River Delta, China’s export manufacturing heartland, migrant workers are watching their incomes plummet and jobs disappear overnight, as local businesses grapple with challenges ranging from coronavirus outbreaks to tumbling international orders.
Two years ago, tens of thousands of migrant workers were cast out of work as employers scaled back production due to the US-China trade war and the initial coronavirus outbreak, which started in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
Few people then would have anticipated the pace of China’s recovery, with exports hitting new highs in the past year and even migrant workers older than 50 in demand in the region’s factories.
Now, the story is being rewritten again, with factories laying off workers and young people unable to find casual jobs.
From the footwear industry to electronics to garments, insiders say they are facing a rare combination of pressures: supply chain disruptions caused by coronavirus controls; declining demand in the domestic, European and US markets; and a massive shift in overseas orders to Southeast Asia.
On May 31, in Qingxi township in the manufacturing hub of Dongguan, workers at Tecqum Electronic Technology were informed they would have to take five months’ holiday without pay until October.