As part of SHEIN’s continuous efforts to ensure that manufacturing suppliers are providing their workers with fair and competitive compensation, the company has released the results of its second wage investigation.
The report analyses samples from 13, 341 samples from across 999 supplier factories across 12 provinces and 43 cities in China, from unannounced audits conducted by Bureau Veritas, Intertek, Openview, SGS and TÜV Rheinland. The samples were collected between April 2022 and June 2023 and are compared to 2022’s annual per capita disposable income as released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, as well as to the 2022 living wage standard as shared by the Global Living Wage Coalition.
Average Monthly Salary Comparisons
Base Wages:
Based off the samples analyzed, workers at SHEIN’s manufacturing supplier facilities, on average, earned basic salaries of CNY27.50 per hour, or CNY4784 per month.
This is more than double (230%) the average local minimum wage across the sampled cities of CNY2,040, and is about 48% higher than the living wage in Shenzhen, as defined by the Global Living Wage Coalition.
Including Overtime Wages:
When we include overtime wages, workers earned CNY7,643 per month on average. This is 374%, or more than three times, higher that the local minimum wage.
The median income of workers at SHEIN’s supplier facilities is between CNY5,000 and CNY7,500.
Continuous Efforts
Wage investigations are an integral part of SHEIN’s efforts in enforcing fair and dignified working conditions for all the workers within SHEIN’s manufacturing supplier ecosystem. As an industry-leading global organization, SHEIN understands its responsibility in promoting a competitive and sustainable industry, and we are committed to empowering the supply chain through investments in the SHEIN Responsible Sourcing program, as well as the Supplier Community Empowerment Program, to ensure that workers at our manufacturing suppliers are treated fairly and with respect in safe and comfortable working environments.
The SHEIN Responsible Sourcing (SRS) program is our commitment-in-action. It ensures that all third-party manufacturing suppliers that supply to SHEIN comply with local laws and regulations as well as international human rights and labour conventions and standards. We work with independent third-party quality assurance auditors such as Bureau Veritas, Intertek, Openview, SGS and TÜV Rheinland, to manage suppliers of SHEIN products and monitor their compliance to the Supplier Code of Conduct, including compliance requirements related to health and safety, environment, labour and social welfare. The SHEIN Supplier Community Empowerment Program (SCEP) is an initiative that advances SHEIN’s supplier partners and their communities at different stages of their development. Through the program, SHEIN has been implementing long-term initiatives to empower supplier partners across four key pillars: factory enhancement, technology innovation, training support and community engagement.
