Ethical Sourcing has become quite topical of late with legislation being introduced in Australia in an attempt to curb modern slavery practices imposed by unscrupulous businesses pushing for lower costs to increase their margins.

The problem is multifaceted and we all play a part in the exploitation of the outsourced worker, even if we are thinking that it is a problem someone else is causing.

In Australia (example since I live here although the scenario is by no means unique to us) we have found out a couple of decades ago that there is a whole world or less expensive labour out there. That the cost of living here is not the same as another country and that if we could buy from this country at their prices and sell at our prices that is just a simple money making machine. Thus brought about the dawn of globalisation for us as it did many other countries. We started getting cheap TVs and computers. Loved the fact that we did not need to get our old rundown electronics repairs and patched up and turned into a throw away society. With this we also chose to throw away domestic industries that relied upon manufacturing and repairing this equipment in lieu of a cheaper option. Not many people cried about it … it was a small price to pay for our shiny new tech gear (unless you were in the affected industry).

But we became addicted to getting stuff cheaper and cheaper and paying less from our salary to get the things we desire. We moved quickly into globalisation and were loving all the cheap gear that was now readily available. And many entrepreneurs saw a great business opportunity in getting lower prices whilst keeping good profits. As globalisation grew we all became accustomed to getting thing cheaper and cheaper as more industries and companies jumped on the globalisation bandwagon and profits got smaller for those who were already playing.

So what is the typical decision for a business where you are losing your profit and cannot increase your sale price to compensate? Decrease your costs! Businesses started to become more aggressive on cost negotiations and started to force suppliers into a scenario where their profits were threatened and so the knock on effect.. Suppliers decided to reduce costs! They tried efficiency improvements but eventually the only way to retain business is to hit the one link in the chain unable to do anything about changes – the workers. And so we created a need for modern slavery. Workers working long hours for an unsustainable wage in order to retain the business and profit margins of EVERYONE with more power and money.

But there is now a consumer awareness of this behaviour and a desire to stop the exploitation of the helpless. Social Media plays a big part in helping turn the tide. Sure many will still want the cheapest price and the best profits and I am sure large corporations will find a way to retain their margins and costs by adding levels of obscurity in their supply chains, but all it takes is for one link above the exploited worker to stand up and say enough for the employees to get a better life.

We started Ethical Outsourcing under this ideal. Knowing that our clients are not likely to want to pay more simply to create a better life for an unseen workforce, we personally took the responsibility to ensure that we valued more than our profit margin in order to ensure our staff have the opportunity to have a life suited to their skills regardless of their geographic location.

We believe all it takes is for someone to say this stops with us and we will not impose commercial pressure to those that impact our costs by choosing people over profits to make a change. We hope that you will join use on our mission and follow the changes that we hope to impose on industries based on exploitation and high profits.