Showcasing Effective Solutions for Parent Worker Wellbeing in China’s Factories (Date TBC)

The CSR Centre at the Embassy of Sweden in Beijing, in collaboration with the The Centre for Child Rights and Business (formerly CCR CSR), are organising an awareness workshop in Shenzhen for international companies sourcing from China on why and how to support the wellbeing of migrant parent workers in China’s factories. A date for the event will be set as soon the present restrictions on travel and physical meetings will be lifted.

Balancing the commitments of work and family life is challenging for everyone, but takes a particular toll on China’s migrant parent workers,  as many have to decide to leave their children behind or face great hurdles to find solutions for childcare and education at their place of work. These challenges have a direct impact on factories too as has been closely documented in The Centre’s studies and in-factory programmes. High turnover rates, difficulty recruiting loyal workers, keeping compliance risks such as children on production floors at bay are all closely correlated to parent workers’ family situation and wellbeing. 

The outbreak of COVID-19 and its unprecedented impact on the movement of people and factory operations, has complicated the picture even further for both migrant parent workers and for factories. For example, factories are facing labour shortages and are struggling to incentivise workers to return. Meanwhile, parents returning to their jobs are not able to secure childcare for their children, especially now that schools, kindergartens and childcare facilities remain shut. 

What can companies do to support their suppliers, and what can suppliers in turn do to support their parent workers? These are the key questions that this upcoming workshop seek to answer. By showcasing best practices and engaging companies through a panel discussion and Q&A, we hope to give companies inspiration and guidance on the practical steps they can take to support migrant parent workers. 

This will be an invite-only event and the date will be announced in due course. We do welcome companies interested in attending to get in touch already now, and be added to our invite list.