Far too often, customers outsource their moral outrage, as well as their manufacturing, to their top tier suppliers. Turning a blind eye to these tragedies may be the easy choice, especially when the upstream supply chain is halfway around the world. But human trafficking and exploitation are not reserved to low cost countries.
We need to acknowledge there are labor exploitations within our domestic supply chain. Knowingly or not, we use suppliers who take advantage of employees, provide poor working conditions and low wages, and purposefully violate laws and regulations. Where is the moral outrage of labor exploitation in the United States?
As a supply chain professional, I spent a large portion of my time on the road, visiting suppliers for quality audits, sourcing assessments and contract reviews. My eyes and ears are my most powerful supplier evaluation tools. I found there are plenty of companies that exploit their employees, and I didn’t have to go very far to find them.