Friday, February 8, 2013

HP stepping its game up



I have heard in the past about poor working conditions in the manufacturing companies in developing countries. Specifically what happens is that companies go off shore and take advantage of the population by offering them low paying jobs. The companies see this as a win-win situation because the cost of production is greatly reduced and the workers have a better source of income (more money flows into the developing country as well). I am well aware that the issue arises is that these workers are required to work ridiculous shifts and still do not earn enough to cover basic living expenses.  After hovering over this article I quickly realized that there’s more to this story. These manufacturing firms in developing countries take advantage of child labor by classifying it as “temporary assignments” or “internships.” This is clearly a human rights issue because these students are working unreasonable shifts and not even getting paid for it. This article mentions how companies (HP in particular) are actually making an attempt to better these working conditions. The article mentions how Apple and HP are willing to take action by performing more audits to ensure that proper working conditions are met. This article is relevant to me because as a CS major these are the companies I am hoping to represent in the near future. I would fee l morally guilty if I knew that the company I work for has these hidden secrets abroad. I feel like the these companies taking action to end poor working conditions is just the beginning. What I hope to see is a document ratified by both industrialized and developing countries that clearly states the constrains companies have in regards with employment.

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