It is no secret that large tech companies like Apple, Amazon and Microsoft build their products using parts manufactured in Asian factories where labor conditions are militant and harsh. Such manufacturing techniques allow them to sell their products at competitive prices and still make a large profit. Though this may bother us, it doesn't stop us from buying their products. We actually help drive large tech companies to seek cheap manufacturing solutions. We want affordable electronics so they find a way to give us what we want. Paying Asian workers more would require companies to either decrease their profit margins or increase their prices. They don't want to lose money and we don't want to pay more for their products. Therefore, we share the blame with the large tech companies for the harsh working conditions in Asian manufacturers.
For more information, visit CNN's article about this.
On the other hand, the extensive labor laws in the United States are driving the price differential for producing these devices elsewhere. These regulations provide a high standard of living for those who can get jobs here, but they also drive some jobs, like that of manufacturing these devices, elsewhere. There has to be an ideal balance between what we see in China that creates bad working conditions and what we see here that drives jobs away.
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