White Hair Under Crystal Lights – An Industry Lament from the Founder of a Zhongshan Lighting Factory

Author: Founder of Zhongshan Hongqin Lighting Co., Ltd.

Date: June 2026

Yesterday, I spent an entire day visiting six crystal lighting factories in Zhongshan.

Walking through their workshops, I felt a heavy weight in my heart.

On the assembly lines, at the workbenches, in the packing corners – almost all the moving figures had grey or white hair. They were not fast, but they were skilled. They spoke little, but they were focused. I estimated that the average age of these frontline workers was well over 60.

This is not an accident in one factory. It is a snapshot of an entire industry.

Why are the frontline workers in crystal lighting factories growing so old?

Those of us in the lighting business know the real reason – it boils down to two words: competitive pressure.

First, we simply cannot afford the post-80s and post-90s generation.

People in this age group are the breadwinners of their families. Mortgages, car loans, children's education, parents' medical bills – every one of these is a hard expense. If you want to hire a worker born in the 80s or 90s for a basic assembly job, you have to pay a salary that is high enough to keep them. But today, profit margins in the lighting industry are thinner than paper. We just cannot afford what they ask for.

Second, the post-00s generation doesn't want to come.

Young people would rather deliver food, livestream, or make milk tea than sit in a workshop screwing in small parts or threading crystal beads all day. In their eyes, factory work is boring, closed-in, and has little prestige – and the pay is frankly beneath their consideration. This is not a matter of right or wrong; it is simply a choice of the times.

Third, that leaves only the elderly – those who cannot sit still and still need some income.

Many uncles and aunts in their 60s are still physically sound. They have "retired" from factories, farms, or housework, and then they walk back into a lighting workshop. They do not ask for high wages – often half, or even less than half, of what the post-80s/90s generation would demand. For them, this is not a step down; it is a feeling of "still being needed."

There is another real reason – quite a few elderly people used to look after their grandchildren at home, but now their daughters-in-law worry that their old-fashioned ways might "mislead" the children. So they lose that "grandchild‑minding job" as well. Staying at home gives them neither income nor purpose. Coming to a factory to do simple, repetitive work is actually a good thing for them.

From "enormous profit" to "paper‑thin margin"

I have been in this industry for 13 years, and I have watched it go from fat profits to razor‑thin margins.

In the past, making crystal lights was like having a licence to print money – earning the price of a car from one chandelier was not unusual. Today? Raw material costs are up, labour is up, freight is up – but the final product price simply cannot be raised. Competition is so fierce that we are now almost at "ten thousand units of cost for one unit of profit". For every ten thousand you invest, you are lucky to make a hundred.

In such an environment, every single penny of cost must be squeezed.

The elderly ask for low wages and do not require social insurance (in fact, many factories do not pay it for them). One person costs half as much as a younger worker. With the same product, if you use elderly workers, you can lower your costs. Lower costs mean you can offer a more competitive price. A competitive price brings orders. Orders keep the factory alive.

This is a cruel but real logic of choice.

Quality and output – ironically, propped up by the elderly

It sounds ironic, but these white‑haired workers are actually the guarantee of product quality and production volume today.

They have patience. They string crystal beads neatly, fit components precisely, and pack carefully. They do not quit on a whim, stare at their phones while working, or walk off the job because "they are in a bad mood."

Their pace may not be fast, but it is steady. Their skills may not be high, but they are precise.

By combining batch production with experienced older workers, factories have found a kind of balance in efficiency and quality. This is not an ideal situation, but it is the least bad option in reality.

My heart aches as I watch them – and I am afraid

I am not blaming anyone. The young need to survive. The old need to feel valuable. The factory needs to make a profit. No one is wrong. What is wrong is that this industry has been squeezed so hard it has no room to choose a "better way."

But I am truly afraid.

I am afraid that in ten or fifteen years, when this generation of elderly workers truly cannot work any more, who will screw in that little part? Who will thread those crystals? Who will keep the thousands of lighting workshops in Zhongshan running?

When we, the current generation of factory owners, grow old, will these industries simply fade away?

Zhongshan's crystal lights once lit up half the homes in China. I do not want to watch this industry flicker out against the backdrop of a single generation.

Keep going, Zhongshan's crystal chandelier factories

I am writing this not to complain or to spread anxiety.

I truly hope that our industry can survive long enough to find a way out – whether through automation, branding, or a new model that attracts young people.

Until that day comes, I want to say thank you to all the elderly men and women who are still quietly working in our lighting workshops. And to my fellow factory owners who are gritting their teeth in this low‑margin war – keep going.

We are still competing, using batch production and the strengths of our elderly workers. But we must also think harder about how to keep this industry from being propped up only by "white hair."

Founder of Zhongshan Hongqin Lighting Co., Ltd.
Written in Zhongshan, June 2026