Family-Friendly Workplaces: Celebrating Ten Years of Impact

Ten years ago, a ceramics factory in China faced a challenge familiar to many workplaces across Asia: most of its workers were parents who had migrated for work, leaving their children behind. The emotional strain was heavy, turnover was high, and reunions during long holidays often made it even harder for parents to return to work.

Concord Pottery decided to make a change. After partnering with The Centre to provide parenting training that deeply resonated with workers, the factory took a bold step and opened a free on-site daycare centre. Within two years, turnover fell sharply and recruitment costs dropped. The message was clear: supporting parent workers is not only the right thing to do — it makes strong business sense.

A decade on, hundreds of factories and production sites have followed suit. Today, many offer comprehensive support for workers, from childcare and parenting programmes to sexual harassment prevention, mental health support, lactation facilities, and more. All are anchored in a robust Training of Trainers model that allows factories to continue delivering impact long after The Centre steps back.

Our 10-year publication captures this journey: our reach and impact, stories from brands and suppliers championing family-friendly workplaces (FFW), real examples of change for children and parents, and a decade of photos showing what progress looks like.

Over the past decade, we’ve seen brands and suppliers go the extra mile to champion worker wellbeing and embed FFW practices into their operations. As this publication highlights, family-friendly workplace initiatives not only deliver tangible benefits for workers and factories, but also offer a practical, impactful way for brands to strengthen their HRDD.

This publication is a celebration of everyone who has helped shape Family-Friendly Workplaces: brands, suppliers, workers, parents and children. These achievements are yours, and we are proud to share this milestone with you.

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