June 18, 2018
Today, KnowTheChain released its first benchmark of 2018, which ranks the top 40 global information and communications technology (ICT) companies on how they address forced labor in their supply chains.
The benchmark revealed that while major companies are taking steps to improve compared to KnowTheChain’s previous 2016 ICT benchmark, the sector as a whole needs to take stronger actions to protect vulnerable workers.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to measure companies’ progress against where they were two years ago,” said Kilian Moote, project director of KnowTheChain. “It’s encouraging that companies are starting to address forced labor. But this benchmark shows that the sector needs to advance their efforts further down the supply chain in order to truly protect vulnerable workers.”
In addition to ranking companies and providing an analysis of company policies, the benchmark provides recommendations on a path forward. Specifically, the report urges companies to engage with workers, give them access to effective grievance mechanisms, and tackle the exploitation of migrant workers by implementing ethical recruitment practices and repaying workers for recruitment fees they may have paid.