The early industry cultivated a distinctive culture where painting masters carried their "pillow boxes" that holds all their tools and travelled between different porcelain factories for work, earning wages by the amount of work done. At that time, the relationships between labour and the business owners were built mainly on trust instead of formal contracts, the partnerships were only governed by vague norms. As earnings were determined solely on their output, workers decided how long they wanted to work on each day, during peak seasons, they often had to work through the night, but the wages were also substantial. When market competition intensified, porcelain factories poached workers from each other, and employees could switch employers at will. On the other hand, during economic downturns, lower income left workers without security for their livelihoods.

When the industry first set foot in Hong Kong, workers had to endured hardships. Owners and employees often live, sleep, and dine together like a family, Yuet Tung China Works was a typical example. Those long-serving paintings masters that were still bachelors could reside in the factory; while those with families may live elsewhere. Some larger factories even accommodated painters’ whole families. Given the prevalence of family-based collaboration in earlier times, the family members of the painters often assist in the work of the factories as well, with able to tend to the children while working in coloring.

Times have changed, the larger factories started to operate like other sectors in the society, and the flexible way of working, mixing work and daily lives, is gone just as the social structure has changed.