Most hands are women’s
In 2013 about 80% of the people in Ambur’s footwear units were women, many the first in their family to earn a monthly wage. Large firms ran crèches, canteens, free medical care and maternity support, and paid wages straight into bank accounts.
Cutter to welfare officer in five years
S. Devi started as a cutter, the person who cuts leather panels to pattern. Five years later, at 25, she was a labour welfare officer, and the company had sent her to China to learn how assembly lines run there.
Cutter at 20. Welfare officer at 25.
From tannery worker to owner
Syed Naeem once worked in a tannery. By 2013 he ran a small shoe-uppers unit in Valathoor, 19 km from Ambur, set up for about ₹6 lakh and employing 50 people, and he had started a one-man software services business on the side.
A small uppers unit can supply the big shoe makers nearby. That is how a cluster lets someone with a little money and a lot of experience become an owner.
Points for a finance reader
- Promote from the floor. A cutter who becomes an officer stays, and trains the next one.
- Welfare is part of the cost of a stable workforce. Crèches and canteens cost money, and cut the cost of people leaving.
- Start as a supplier to the big ones. An uppers unit near the shoe makers needs little capital and has buyers next door.