The large population of China makes it a perfect place for Western companies to outsource manufacturing of technological products such as phones, laptops among other products. The large population means that the cost of production is low as the supply of labor is more than the demand. Apple Inc. is one of the companies that outsource production of their products to Chinese companies. Issues of poor working conditions for Chinese workers in the companies producing Apple Inc. products have been dominating the ethical news for a few years, with BBC, NewYork Times and Wired being some of the prominent media outlets to broadcast the issue. Working for long hours, poor remuneration and hazardous working environment are cited as the main problems facing workers in the factories. Apple Inc. is just an example of capitalist companies who prioritize profits at the expense of their workers.
The capitalistic approach of Apple Inc. made the company outsource production plants to China, and the company has no plan to incur extra costs to alleviate the situation of Chinese workers. Despite various promises to make the managers of the companies that Apple Outsource production to, investigations have uncovered that employees in Pegatron factories sleeping during their 12 hours shift while working for 18 days without a day off (bbc.com). The New York Times also agree that globalization of manufacturing has allowed rich Western companies such as Apple Inc. to continue accumulating wealth without taking care of their workers. Wired.com also notes the negligence of Apple Inc. is as a result of globalization where companies run from their parent nations to countries with lax labor laws and cheap labor to increase their earnings.
Works Cited
Barboza, Charles. "Apple’s Ipad and the Human Costs for Workers in China". Nytimes.com. N.p., 2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.
Bilton, Richard. "Apple 'Failing To Protect Chinese Factory Workers' - BBC News". BBC News. N.p., 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.
Johnson, Joel. "1 Million Workers. 90 Million Iphones. 17 Suicides. Who’s to Blame?". WIRED. N.p., 2016. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.
