Extreme shortage of professional overlock tailors has led to a garment factory owner in Tirupur putting up posters in and around the town promising a gold ring to any tailor who works in his firm for eight months. This is in addition to the salary and other benefits for the overlock tailors.
Overlock tailors are part of the power table operators in the tailoring section and are in high demand in the tailoring and garment industry of Tirupur.
Forty-year-old Kumar, a garment factory owner, is getting bulk orders from exporters and needs professional tailors who are specialists in overlock. However, even after offering a weekly salary of Rs 6,000, people did not turn up and after one or two tailors joined, they left after working for three-four days.
As these tailors get a weekly salary they leave the unit, spend the money for a week and join some other unit.
Kumar, who is a native of Andipalayam in Tirupur, said, “I have a garment unit at Karuvampalayam and has been running it for several years. I get bulk orders from garment exporters and have to deliver them within the deadline.
With the shortage of professional overlock tailors, I am not able to take the orders as deadlines are important in this business. I have put up handwritten posters across Tirupur offering a gold ring to any overlock tailor who works with me for a minimum eight months.” Even after the poster was pasted, there are no takers which has left the garment unit owner worried.
In Tirupur, garment factory owners are making offers to woo tailors. One unit owner had offered two litres of petrol a day for overlock tailors who reached the unit from distant villages, another offered liquor to workers but had to withdraw his offer following massive uproar in the society and among the garment unit association.
