Sweatshops: a Positive Side

Sweatshops is a working environment, in which people living under poverty get opportunity to earn some money for their survival. Many organizations are dependent on the sweatshops to make profit. It is true that factories get benefits from worker by providing them less salary. On the other hand, the people who are uneducated with no skills get the chance to work in factories to support their families for their daily expensive.

According to some experts of economy, sweatshops are not bad as been considered if the workers are willing to work in the factory environment by their own choice. The motivation behind this paper is to examine the positive sides which is associated with sweatshops. Sweatshops is a source of employment, opportunity to improve lifestyle and it helps developing countries to improve their situations.

Firstly, Sweatshop provides employment. Women feel a bit of independence because of employment. Sweatshops provide employment especially for women. “For instance, in one of the clothing industry, women between the age group of 18 to 25 do bundle apparel and cut for most of the popular brands”. (Zwolinski. M,2012). The specialists in developing countries states that sweatshops are one of the finest way of earning wages. “Sweatshop are considered as one of the mutual contract between the laborers and employers as both get advantages and benefit from it. The salary enables the worker to live a better life in comparison to the local industries. Working in sweatshops is much more better than staying at home by not earning a single penny”. (Zwolinski 2007, p707). For women it provides sort of independence.

Financial consultant Jeffrey Sachs reports that his meetings with Bangladesh ladies working in sweatshops uncovered a startling reality. Although most of the women accepted that they must work for longer hours which leads to provocation and are not provided with proper worker rights. Likewise, sweatshop had open the door for the female workers, so that they would be independent enough and will earn some money for themselves and for family. As a result, this would enhance their living standard.

Secondly, sweatshop helps the workers to improve their lives, gain the knowledge and come to know about the outer world. The workers come to know how to deal with branded and designer clothes. Brands are a significance of high standards. They learned about fabrics and how to care for delicate or expensive clothing, what kind of stuff garments are made of. “The interactions with the outer world helps the sweatshops workers to learn the value of outer society. It influenced the worker’s thinking way, actions and words”. (Benjamin. F,2013). For examples, being an international student, working in factories leads to interaction with different kind of people from different communities. It gives a chance to learn and accept the new society’s environment.

Last but not the least, sweatshops can be expanding a country economy too. It enhances GDP of any country, assured foreign investment, and promoting labor rate. Reassuringly, according to a research article of clothing industry, in the most recent decade Bangladesh's economy develop 5% profit every year. If Arnold and Hartman's hypothesis holds, enhancements in working conditions will take after. Import and export through sweatshops increasing sales of a nation. Enhancing the image in the world marketplace. Sweatshops companies usually find new foreign market for their native sales. Furthermore, considering how sweatshops helps fuel country’s economic engine (Business Ethics Quarterly 17(4). May 2006).

As a result, sweatshop is a source of earning especially for the women. It gives an independence to women to help themselves to manage finances, and helping them with creating a better life and future. Ending these sweatshops can create the poor unemployed workers with no choice except for prostitution, scavenging or starvation. Meanwhile, sweatshops give a chance to workers to work with brands. Import and export from native country to other country helps in interactions with outer world. Working in sweatshops is better than sitting silently at home and earning nothing.

References:

1. Zwolinski, Matt, Sweatshops, Choice, and Exploitation. Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 689-727, October 2007. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=901689
2. Arnold, D. (2010). Working conditions: Safety and sweatshops. In G. Brenkert & T. Beauchamp (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of business ethics (pp. 628–653). New York: Oxford University Press.
3. Arnold, D. G., & Bowie, N. E. (2003). Sweatshops and respect for persons. Business Ethics Quarterly, 13(2), 221–242.
4. Arnold, D., & Hartman, L. (2003). Moral imagination and the future of sweatshops. Business and Society Review, 108