Companies in IT supply chain are expected to keep production at high levels in China during the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays seeking to catch up with orders from clients, according to industry sources.

The proportion of workers to be kept at production lines in China during the holiday period this year will be the highest ever, the sources said.

The sources pointed out that many Taiwan-based firms will see over 90% of their Taiwanese managers stay at their posts in China during the holidays, instead of coming back to Taiwan for family reunions.

Keeping substantial numbers of workers - many of them being migrant workers - at production lines is a measure to help pevent the spread of COVID-19 during the massive holiday migration and to catch up with clients' demand, which has been seriously outstripping supply, the sources said.

IT companies are eager to have their workers stay during the holidays, after what happened in the same period in 2020 when COVID-19 started wreaking havoc: production lines had to shut down because workers were unable to return to work after the holiday.

Several provincial governments of China have also encouraged workers to continue working during the holidays in mid February, with some of the governments said to be looking to offer allowances to workers staying, the sources said.

But components shortages are still expected to worsen during the holidays, the sources said. Some companies that have low components inventory have already let workers take early leave for the holidays, the sources added.

Many companies are also set to triple their pay for the overtime during the holidays, the sources said.

IT companies in China will keep production going during the Lunar New Year holidays
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