Sweatshops and Slave Labor

This cluster debates harsh working conditions in warehouses, factories, and sweatshops, often labeling them as modern slavery or exploitation while some defend them as better than alternatives in developing economies.

📉 Falling 0.3x Politics & Society
4,029
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#5242
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
4
2008
13
2009
70
2010
100
2011
62
2012
140
2013
178
2014
111
2015
160
2016
210
2017
241
2018
240
2019
256
2020
338
2021
389
2022
447
2023
469
2024
285
2025
307
2026
9

Keywords

e.g HN labor slave exploitation workers slavery child trafficking wages working cheap

Sample Comments

knodi123 Aug 27, 2014 View on HN

does that include the poorly paid peons working themselves to death in the warehouses that you're not allowed to even bring a smartphone into?

IshKebab Feb 10, 2024 View on HN

Sounds like modern day slavery. I assume they must just pay pretty well for completely unskilled labour compared to the competition, otherwise why would people put up with those conditions?

cbd1984 May 11, 2016 View on HN

It's too bad they rely on slave labor.

datavirtue Sep 24, 2022 View on HN

Sounds like your typical sweatshop.

hersko Jan 17, 2025 View on HN

It sounds like a bad job so they should work elsewhere. These are not slave labor camps.

hypomanic Feb 10, 2023 View on HN

They have to work a ton. They're being used for cheap labor.

mfoy_ Feb 27, 2018 View on HN

Don't forget child labour! Clearly we're missing out on this great untapped pool of cheap workers!

oldstrangers Feb 19, 2023 View on HN

"Having an exploitable labor pool is the entire point! I'm not sure why some people are trying to frame this as bad or immoral."

utkarshsinha Feb 28, 2012 View on HN

Do you know there are people working in sweatshops at really low wages? Be glad you're not there yet.

harambae Apr 18, 2025 View on HN

Near-slave labor from Bangladesh has downsides too (moral ones, at the very least)