Apple Factories Employ Child Workers According to Report

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Using child labor is a serious issue for any company out there, Apple included. And it looks like children have been found working for some of Apple’s factories that happen to build their gadgets which we’ve grown to love. This is a very serious issue which shouldn’t be taken lightly. Besides Apple there must be lots of other companies that use some of the same suppliers that happen to hire children to do a man’s job.

Apple has lots of supplying companies and most of them are based in Asia with the majority of gadgets being assembled in China. That’s most likely were child labor has been discovered in the first place. Apple admitted in its annual report on its suppliers that it has found proof of children being employed in its suppliers’ factories:

In each of the three facilities, we required a review of all employment records for the year as well as a complete analysis of the hiring process to clarify how underage people had been able to gain employment.

It’s really disturbing to hear about child labor cases and although Apple did come out with such details about the practices of its suppliers that doesn’t mean its image isn’t also slightly affected.

The report on suppliers went on to reveal that at least 55 of the 102 factories that work for Apple make their workers work for more than 60 hours a week. 65% of the factories were actually paying the correct wages and benefits but 24 factories were not even paying the minimum wage per month. 61% of suppliers followed regulations to prevent injuries at work and 57% had the environmental permits needed for operating a business.

While Apple found out all these details that don’t honor its suppliers, the company has not taken any measures against them, or at least we don’t know about them yet.

Again, the really disturbing part is the whole child labor issue and when it comes to it, other companies that use similar suppliers should make sure children aren’t hired to produce their devices. Something tells me it’s not the last time we hear about suppliers that abuse workers in order to deliver the products we’re actually anxiously waiting to buy. But neither we, the customers, nor the hiring companies should in any way agree with the practices of these suppliers’ factories. So let’s hear about what’s being done to prevent such issues in the future!

Picture from GadgetReview.com