"Fashion brands accused of exploiting workers at risk of layoffs", 16th October 2020

Millions of garment workers could lose their jobs as global brands are demanding price cuts and delaying payments to suppliers who are desperate for orders to survive the new coronavirus pandemic... Suppliers have been asked to make their prices an average of 12% cheaper than last year, research by the Center for Global Workers’ Rights (CGWR) at Penn State University found, describing such practices as “leveraging desperation”.

In a survey of 75 factories in 15 countries, suppliers said they had to wait an average of 77 days for payment, compared to 43 days before the pandemic, raising fears of further factory closures in an industry employing 60 million people worldwide...

Suppliers in countries including Cambodia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Peru and Vietnam told CGWR that they had already laid off 10% of their workers and would have to cut another 35% of their labour force if order reductions continued...