Áine Clarke profile background image
Áine Clarke profile image

Áine Clarke

Head of KnowTheChain and investor strategy at Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Áine Clarke is head of KnowTheChain and investor strategy, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

January 10, 2023

The information, communications and technology (ICT) sector plays a significant role in the global economy, with the largest ICT companies posting a record $4 trillion in combined annual revenue in the past year. As China’s zero-COVID strategy and the U.S. trade war pushed tech companies to shift production, other Asian sites have reaped the benefits of the sector’s boom, including India, Malaysia and Taiwan.

But as the sector has grown, so too has its capacity for serious labour rights abuses within its vast global supply chains. Workers in the ICT sector have been subject to poor working conditions ranging from health and safety risks to violence and debt bondage. While the COVID-19 pandemic saw ICT companies’ profits soar, it also exacerbated labour conditions for workers.