NeXtime - NeXtime faced with increasingly acute labor shortage in China

Labor shortage in China is becoming the biggest bottleneck for availability of NeXtime products.

Dutch company NeXtime faces acute labor shortage with the factories manufacturing their products. As hard as it may be to believe, those factories can't find workers. At the National People's Congress in Beijing, government leaders discussed the labor shortage afflicting the Guangdong region, nicknamed the factory of the world.

Before the Chinese New Year holidays, some component makers and NeXtime’s factories in China mentioned labor shortages. Many of them were working through the recent holidays in order to meet NeXtime’s strong demand. But now the labor shortage problem in China erupted and factory production was unable to meet NeXtime’s demand.

Beijing’s successful economic stimulus program has contributed to a coastal scramble for labor, by increasing investment and employment opportunities elsewhere. “Fiscal stimulus has spurred jobs growth in the interior provinces,” Angela Lee, General Manager of NeXtime in Hong Kong, said. “The labor shortage has tightened the supply chain and makes inventory control increasingly difficult”.

Commenting on the labor situation at the factories, Paul Krab, NeXtime’s Sourcing and Supply Chain Manager says, “We are faced with a huge challenge to make sure our products are manufactured according to our planning. At the same time we want to make sure that our quality control is maintained and the soonest shipping dates are met. Unfortunately we are not able to manage everything. Many manufacturers are already weeks behind schedule because they can’t find enough workers. Some are closing down production lines and considering raising prices. It is inevitable that we experience some delays with some our products because of the labor shortage. But we manage to keep the delays to a minimum and we hope that our customers understand how difficult the situation is”.

Founded in 1970, NeXtime is the worldwide leader in clocks. The company offers a wide range of wall clocks, table clocks and alarm clocks designed for people to enjoy and looking how time passes by more fun.

NeXtime and the NeXtime logo are registered trademarks of NeXtime in Europe and/or other countries.

You can find more images relating to NeXtime and its products on the company website www.nextime.eu

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pdf Press Release April 2010 - NeXtime faced with increasingly acute labor shortage in China.pdf