We have a commitment at Technological Responsibility to shed light on current Tech CSR news, but also to explore the career landscape for individuals who prioritize their social values. Today’s post, unfortunately, is not an article full of sharp answers and gleaming insight. We would like to open a discussion and will likely have more questions than answers.
When looking at a tech company you are interested in working for, it is always good to look at the companies values, look at their social track record, and see if they are a morally responsible company. Problematically though, it will always be a slippery slope for reasons I would like to outline for you: child labor, civil rights atrocities, and other terrible corporate acts are overwhelmingly seen in commodities and manufacturing. Given that, it follows that almost every companies’ product will have touch points and manufacturing processes that are tainted by the injustices of the commodities markets that are the lifeblood of industry. How far down the list of manufacturing, independent contracting, outsourced parts and processes, etc can we go down and say that a company is knowingly and intentionally engaging in immoral practices?
This question is exemplified in today’s tech industry especially with the recent allegations towards Samsung. Following a third party audit that found no child labor violations, a watch group has accused Samsung of violations regarding a supplier that employed children using fake ID’s as part of a manufacturing process. While Samsung has shown assertiveness in responding the allegations in a responsible manner, the question is still raised of whether Samsung can be held responsible for violations pertaining to third party suppliers and manufacturers?
The Department of Labor released a list of 128 products that most commonly use child labor and some of the worst cases are in Gold, Tabaco, Cocoa, Coal, and almost 60% coming from agriculture. It is easy to relate child labor to Nike, but do you think about it when you buy groceries or fill up your gas tank? Chevron, an oil and gas company, has been not only accused of child labor, but assassination and intentional toxic waste dumping.
This graph shows the percentage of the labor force that is between the age of 5 and 14 throughout different areas of the world. I choose to insert this graph because it brings home how severe this issue is. It is something to keep in mind as you consider working for or purchasing from companies that do business in these geographic areas.
A lot of the ambiguity surrounding this issue stems from the problem that poor practices in commodities are not in the public spotlight and are lacking awareness. We all remember the uproar around Nike and their use of sweat shops. Boycotts and public outrage had a very real effect on the company’s brand. Besides Nike, a long list of tech corporations like Apple, IBM, Sony, and more have been shown to engage in things like exploitative child labor. The unfortunate trend is that the only companies that really feel the burn are the ones that are exposed to the wrath of consumer and activist group scrutiny. What we see is that companies with consumer products like Apple are held to a higher standard due to their public visibility. If we pull back the veil of consumer products, we see a dark treasure chest of horrendous labor offenses in commodities and manufacturing that are sheltered from every day public scrutiny.
For values minded employees in the job market, we must all ask ourselves how we measure and evaluate the companies we engage with on a daily basis. Where is the line drawn for you?
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