In the 10-minute radio interview linked below, professor of business ethics, Chris MacDonald (one of the editors of BEH), is interviewed about recent moves by two companies (Adidas and Foxconn) to replace “sweatshop” labour with robots. >>>
LINK: If sweatshops are bad, are roboshops better? (Chris MacDonald, interviewed for CBC Radio)
This week, a company long accused of using sweatshop labour, announced a plan to replace workers with robots.
Sporting goods company Adidas, which Oxfam says makes its products in Asian sweatshops, announced the creation of a new factory to make its shoes. Instead of low-paid workers in Asia, the shoes will be made by robots in Germany.
To philosopher and business ethicist Chris MacDonald, as robotics become cheaper, Canadians who oppose buying clothes from ‘sweatshops’ will face an ethical question: if sweatshops are bad for workers, is replacing them with robots good?….
What do you think?
See also: A High-Tech Replacement for Sweatshop Labour! Um…yay?
Brought to you by:
Business Ethics Highlights 
Recent Comments