The issues of child labor
The issues of child labor have directly impacted families in the developing world. I believe that MNEs in developed countries have played a big role in both exploiting child labor and recently, raising awareness to stop child labor from happening. The use of child labor has exposed both the victims and their families to great health risk and psychological problems. The issue has, therefore raised the attention of MNEs and stimulated them to act against child labor. I have also identified that many children are willing to work for the available pay despite its minimum due to existing social problems and lack of essential needs which force them to work for the companies. However, it is the role of the management of the companies to ensure that the employees meet the set standards and minimum working age for the benefit of both the organization and the employees as well. For instance, the poorly developed countries such as Somalia, Pakistan and Myanmar among others have experienced forced labor and child abused as they struggle to improve their economic status which affects the development and bringing up of children. Hence, I believe it is high time MNEs stop employing child labor within their practices and emulate positivity through paying the services accordingly and working towards achieving equality and observing ethical considerations.
I have also experienced unfair labor within the countries I have visited in big MNEs, which have ended up affecting the brands of the organizations. Forced labor and child labor contributes to poor quality products. I believe that the final product depends on the morale and psyche one has during the production processes. Hence, when people are not motivated to work, they may have a negative attitude towards the production, which generally leads to poor quality and high quantity hence affecting the brand. For the time I have worked with ILO, we have been working towards promoting conducive working environments and developing policies which might help to stop child and unfair labor within the associated countries based on the contribution MNEs have on the economic level.
In addition, we need to have ethical issues in the operation of international labor. The ILO have set terms and conditions which need to be adhered to when working with employees. The social state of countries should not dictate the business operations as people need to be paid for their services based on the profit MNEs makes. Hence, ethical considerations within the organization should ensure conducive working environments and better prices. I have realized that the MNEs use child labor as part of their plan to evade the ethical considerations. Children are too young to understand the set ethical practices hence may find it difficult to fight for their rights as they also have limited responsibilities. However, despite the age, people should be paid fairly for the work they have in the MNEs.
MNEs have helped in bringing global mobility among businesses by employing people from different countries. Hence, it has contributed to innovations and attraction of new talents. It is a form of diversity in business which has helped to solve the current scarcity of labor in different countries. Similarly, innovation from different people in overseas has brought about new experiences in working environments. However, global mobility has also contributed to child labor in different MNEs organizations. I believe that each MNE works towards achieving maximum profit; however, it should avoid child labor.
To sum up, I have explored different MNEs within the countries I have visited in my working experience. Hence, I have witnessed child labor in business operations which are characterized by unfair and cheap labor. Thus, I believe that organizations should observe ethical considerations and work based on the recommended terms and conditions to achieve the best and help in eradicating child labor.