Song Hong Garment keeps solid footing in crisis

Song Hong Garment keeps solid footing in crisis-illustration photo

In mid-July, the market was sent staggering by news of RTW Retailwinds Inc., the owner of New York & Company women’s fashion chain and one of Song Hong Garment’s largest partners, had filed for bankruptcy. The company’s investors and shareholders were bombarded with questions like how the company’s operations would be affected, how this will trickle down to the company’s employees, or if any other major customer will go belly up in the future.

Recent talks with Song Hong Garment workers showed their unshaken trust in the company’s Board of Directors (BoD) as well as its future prospects. Albeit difficulties are apparent, the BoD has been communicating the clear message that the plant will keep operating, and that the welfare of workers and their families are the top priority.

Song Hong Garment has also applied flexible sales strategies during COVID-19 times. Prior to the pandemic, the company was strict in selecting partners and refused those with low profit margins. Now, it is more flexible at the negotiating table, with more loose conditions.

Despite the pandemic, the company’s workers still have stable job and pay. Other allowances such as daily bonuses or benefits for pregnant women or breast-feeding mothers have also been kept.

The average salary of Song Hong Garment’s workers in Nam Dinh city is VND7.3 million ($317.40).

Partial salary cuts were only applied to the management and office staff as the only compromise for the hardships of the pandemic.

Sharing the concerns of the company leaders, employees support and trust the BoD to captain the ship smartly, steering the company through the hardships to write new chapters for Song Hong Garment’s success story as one of the most profitable apparel makers of Vietnam.