In recent years, salary levels in the textile industry have generally been low, with a large gap from employees’ expectations. At the same time, companies generally face development difficulties such as difficulty in recruiting, retaining, and obtaining loans. Some companies choose to “go out” to invest and set up factories in the central and western regions, Southeast Asia, or Africa.
From July to November this year, the Jiangsu Finance, Trade, Light and Textile Trade Union, the Provincial Industrial Workers Development Research Center and the Provincial Textile Industry Association organized a special task force to conduct research on the income status and factors affecting wage levels of more than 3,000 employees in 78 companies in the textile industry. Conducted in-depth research and analysis. Recently, the “2021 Survey Report on the Income Situation of Frontline Workers in Jiangsu Province’s Textile Industry” was released.
Jiangsu Province currently has more than 7,200 textile enterprises above designated size, with more than 3.5 million employees. The total textile industry has ranked first in the country for 37 consecutive years. The data obtained from this survey reflects the intrinsic relationship between employee income and problems such as difficulty in recruiting and retaining employees, and provides a basis and reference for industries and enterprises to further promote decent work for employees and promote healthy industrial development.
The actual monthly income of employees is 4,739 yuan
Among the 3,138 employees surveyed (including questionnaires and telephone follow-up interviews), the average salary payable in 2020 was 63,817 yuan, an increase of 5,882 yuan or 10.2% year-on-year in 2019, with a monthly average of 5,318 yuan. The annual average real wage was 56,872 yuan, an increase of 5,709 yuan or 11.2% year-on-year, and the monthly average was 4,739 yuan.
In 2020, 30% of the sample employees held skill level certificates, and the median annual actual salary was 60,000 yuan, which was 5,000 yuan more than employees without certificates. The higher the qualification certificate an employee holds, the higher the actual salary will be. The income gap between employees who do not hold a certificate and those who hold a junior worker certificate is not obvious, which shows that holding a junior worker certificate has a small impact on income.
The survey found that those with 5-10 years of service have the highest income levels. The median actual salary of employees of different age groups in 2020 reached the highest level at 58,000 yuan for those aged 31 to 40, while it fell back for those aged 41 to 60. It mainly reflects the policy of enterprise income distribution tilting towards the front line of the workshop.
The province’s textile enterprises have basically achieved full coverage of social insurance for their employees, reaching 94.4%. More than 90% of the companies where employees work pay for the “five insurances”, of which 62.1% pay provident funds, an increase of 10.8% from 2019.
In 2020, 80% of employees in the province signed labor contracts with enterprises. Among them, the contract period “more than 3 years (inclusive)” accounted for 43.4%, followed by “less than 3 years”, accounting for 32.5%, and “unfixed”. The proportion of “term” is 24.1%. Regarding remuneration agreements in labor contracts, the main ones are “agreement on detailed salary systems such as basic salary, performance bonus, commission, year-end bonus, etc.”, accounting for 24.4%; followed by “only the amount of basic salary is agreed upon, and does not involve agreed bonuses, year-end bonuses, etc.” Awards and other content”, accounting for 16.7%.
Through the survey data from 2018 to 2020, it was found that employee income has gradually declined compared to the previous year; 60% of the cases have increased; income has increased by 3.2% compared with the decrease, mainly due to the impact of the epidemic.
Regarding the reform of building the industrial worker team, most employees are full of expectations, accounting for 74.2%. In addition, 15.6% of employees believe that it is relatively difficult to improve the status of industrial workers. Only nearly 10% of employees think that it does not matter. The vast majority of workers in the textile industry hope to improve their status through industrial reform.
As for what employees currently expect most, more than 80% of employees said they hope to increase wages, followed by 7.8% of employees who hope to improve their skills, and 4.6% of employees who hope to narrow the income gap with those in government agencies and institutions. It can be seen that improving the income level of front-line workers in the overall textile industry is still the aspiration of most workers.
There is a gap between income levels and employee expectations
In the past three years, the average annual increase in employee wages has been more than 10%, exceeding the average wage growth index of active employees in the province. But at the same time, data show that the average salary in 2020 is 63,817 yuan, which is far lower than the average salary of 106,034 yuan for urban non-private employees in the province. Moreover, this wage level is based on overtime work that is common in the textile industry. Therefore, the actual wage standard may be lower. Lower wage levels have led to low employee satisfaction with wages, and multiple data show that employees have extremely strong expectations for wage increases. Survey data shows that there is a positive correlation between the income level of employees and the educational level of employees, indicating that the higher the academic qualifications, the higher the salary, which has a guiding role in improving the quality of employees during the entry stage. However, the improvement of occupational skill levels after employees join the job is an important aspect of improving employee quality. Sample data shows that the income of highly skilled employees is significantly higher than that of non-high-skilled employees, but the difference in wages between unskilled employees and entry-level workers is not obvious. In some companies, there is even a wage inversion between technicians and senior technicians, resulting in the income satisfaction of high-skilled employees being lower than that of non-high-skilled employees, which will inevitably affect employees’ enthusiasm for upgrading their skill levels.
The characteristics of the employee group with the highest income in the province’s textile industry are: employees with a bachelor’s degree, technician qualification certificates, company service experience between 5-10 years, and employees aged between 31-40 years old. Employees over 40 years old are eligibleAs working years increase, wage income does not increase simultaneously. However, in real life, the living expenses of this part of employees are constantly increasing, which directly affects the improvement of employees’ quality of life and also affects the stability of the workforce. Therefore, although employee turnover has decreased in 2020, 40.9% of employees still chose the option “it depends on the situation” when asked whether they are “willing to continue working in the textile industry”, showing a lack of confidence in long-term employment. , and lack of development opportunities and dissatisfaction with salary levels are an important reason.
The province’s textile enterprises have a high social security payment coverage rate and can basically achieve full coverage of the “five insurances”. However, the vast majority of employees pay according to the lower limit of the social security payment base. In the past three years, less than 20% of employees paid according to all payable wages. This may not have much impact on employees’ income in the short term, but when employees retire and other situations, the income gap between enterprises and government agencies and institutions will inevitably widen further, creating potential instability factors and going against common prosperity. in principle.
It is difficult to recruit, retain and obtain loans, and the operating pressure of textile enterprises is increasing.
The survey believes that the income of employees in the textile industry is affected by a number of factors. The depreciation of the US dollar has weakened the advantage of textile exports, and the price of ocean transportation has soared, making it difficult to find a container. For this reason, many textile companies have to set up factories in Southeast Asia and Africa. Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, measures such as “working from home” and “not going out unless necessary” have suppressed consumer demand, and the growth rate of domestic demand and exports has slowed down; the prices of raw materials such as cotton have fluctuated at high levels, and the prices of finished products have not been able to rise simultaneously. Provincial textile enterprises have used electricity at staggered peaks across a large area, and power cuts have been imposed in some areas, causing enterprises to be afraid to accept orders. Textile enterprises have long been faced with difficulties in recruiting and retaining workers. Labor costs such as employee training have increased, and textile enterprises have increased operating pressure. All these will inevitably shift pressure on workers.
In recent years, emission standards in printing and dyeing and other industries have continued to improve, forcing companies to carry out technological transformation; starting from January 2021, the minimum payment base will rise from 3,800 yuan/month to 4,250 yuan/month, and companies will have to pay the cost of “five insurances and one housing fund” will increase by 26%; carrying out green and digital workshop transformation and developing in the direction of “specialization, specialization and innovation” is an important way to alleviate the difficulty of recruiting workers and improve production efficiency. However, the profits of textile enterprises are thin, and banks strictly control loans to textile enterprises. “Recruitment of workers” “Difficulty” and “difficulty in getting loans” restrict the development of enterprises.
The income of textile employees is only 80% of that of the manufacturing industry. The income gap with the financial industry, IT industry, and government agencies and institutions is getting wider and wider; 63.5% of employees are paid according to the “lower limit of social security payment base”, and even if they retire, they still “enter the society” Factors such as low wages and excessive overtime have deterred young people from the textile industry, and the age gap in the workforce; some enterprises have extensive management, and there are “ceilings” in income expectations and career development.
There are many migrant workers in textile enterprises in the province, 82.8% of whom have a high school education or below, and 70% of employees do not have qualification certificates; the low-end production capacity in the textile industry is excessive, and products are highly homogeneous, and even engage in price wars with each other; except for some well-known brands , many companies are OEM processing, and the added value of the products is low; some companies have outdated equipment, backward technology, loud workshop noise and dust, and low labor productivity; quite a few companies rely on working overtime to compete for time and manpower. As long as they do not If you change jobs, you will not take the initiative to increase employee wages.
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