A survey of the opinions of sewing company managers on the present conditions of the sewing industry and the government’s policy on support
With signs of the redevelopment of the domestic sewing industry, national support agencies were established. This study aims to assess the present conditions of the domestic sewing industry and investigate the effectiveness of national sewing industry support policies. According to the results of a survey of 30 sewing companies managers, the biggest factor causing product defects was work being rushed because of tight delivery dates, and the reduction in sales was caused by a lack of orders. Moreover, sewing technicians are aging, and the biggest reason for their decrease in number is that people do not pursue the job because of the common understanding that it is difficult. Managers perceived that the government’s sewing technician training program was not a practical help. They were well aware of the support program to improve the work environment and the sewing equipment support program and showed high satisfaction with these programs, but they complained that the period for equipment rental was fixed. A majority of them thought that the Korean sewing industry environment had still not improved, and were skeptical about its future outlook. They identified its most urgent needs as the expansion of orders and the securing of manpower. The support programs that they wanted urgently included support for employees’ four major public insurances and the enactment of the increase of toll processing fees.