Tech supply chain workers vulnerable to forced labour

Labourers in the global tech supply chain work in poor conditions, and are vulnerable to safety risks, violence and debt bondage

Áine Clarke is head of KnowTheChain and investor strategy, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, and Rosie Monaghan is KnowTheChain researcher and representative, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

The information, communications and technology (ICT) sector plays a significant role in the global economy, with the largest ICT companies posting a record $4 trillion in combined annual revenue in the past year. As China’s zero-Covid strategy and the US trade war pushed tech companies to shift production, other Asian sites have reaped the benefits of the sector’s boom, including India, Malaysia and Taiwan.

But as the sector has grown, so too has its capacity for serious labour rights abuses within its vast global supply chains. Workers in the ICT sector have been subject to poor working conditions ranging from health and safety risks to violence and debt bondage. While the Covid-19 pandemic saw ICT companies’ profits soar, it also exacerbated labour conditions for workers.