Shein plans 100,000 new Brazil jobs as part of regional build-up

Brasília: Shein, a Chinese fast-fashion giant, plans to create 100,000 new jobs in Brazil over the next three years through a partnership with 2,000 textile factories across Latin America’s largest economy as a way to consolidate its presence in the region.

The retailer plans to invest 750 million reais ($148 million) in training in a new technology for Brazilian manufacturers to meet growing demand, the company said in a statement Thursday. The investment, according to the company, will “reduce waste and decrease excess inventory, resulting in greater agility to respond” to demand from the market.

The company has seen “great success” in Brazil since its launch in 2020, and saw an opportunity to “localize our supply chain more to benefit consumers, small companies and the economy in general,” said Marcelo Claure, Shein’s LatAm chairman.

The announcement comes just days after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited China and right after he delivered his proposal to shore up Brazil’s public finances to Congress. Ahead of the bill’s introduction, Lula decided to scrap a plan championed by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad to enforce taxes on small purchases made abroad through popular websites, including Shein.

Haddad on Thursday met with Claure in Sao Paulo, where the partnership was negotiated, according to Brazilian website Metropoles.

“It is very important for us that they see Brazil not only as a consumer market, but as a production economy,” Haddad said in remarks to local reporters according to Metropoles.

Local manufacturers will also have access to Shein’s marketplace as the retailer looks for ways to expand its operations and distribution channels across Brazil. With it, the company estimates that nearly 85 per cent of its sales will be local by the end of 2026.