Working At Home: The New Sweatshop!

Today, I was speaking with some partners in chat. We were discussing a new project that is being offered by a company that I contract for, and the reasons I turned it down. We got to talking a bit, and one of my partners, Paulette, said that the work at home industry is now becoming a new and legalized sweatshop. She's right.

I do my best to only contract for companies that are going to pay fair wages for real work. A year and a half ago, I started contracting with one that for the most part, became the sole place I contracted for. At the time, the focus was on both the client's needs as well as the workforce. It was a great company with a wonderful vision that I really stood behind.

Roles changed within the company as some left and others took their places. Since then, the focus has seemed to change to being all about the clients. I do my best to try to keep the balance within my team but I can not deny that the focus, over all, has shifted.

I walked away from one project that had constant pay problems and didn't pay fair wages. When I was asked to return, I said to fix it first then ask again. I turned down a second project that does not pay fair wages at all. It doesn't even pay a competitive wage. It is akin to a sweatshop type environment. Produce this much work, or you're gone. And yet at the same time, it doesn't pay enough to justify that attitude in the workplace.

So why do companies get away with this? For one big main reason.

Companies get away with it because there will always be some person somewhere that is desperate enough to work it. They need the money so badly, that they will do anything for it. As long as they say that you're an independent contractor, they can pay you whatever they want to pay you. The only thing that would change the behavior is if the people quit working for those meager wages.

In this economy though, it is hard to stand up and say "I am worth more than this!" Say it with me for a moment. "I am worth more than THIS!" Yeah. A lot easier to say when you know you'll make the bills this month, and have money to feed the kids, get the new clothes they need, and pay for Christmas.

It really is a catch 22. We need to speak up and say we deserve more in order to get taken more seriously and be paid fairly. At the same time, we need to have the monthly income in order to be financially secure enough to say "Nope. I'm worth more than this!"

The real losers in this situation though is the entire work at home field. Everyone from the companies, to the clients, to the workforce suffers. When you pay your workforce poorly, you will have poorer quality. You will have a hard time making your deadlines due to low morale. You will constantly be under threat of a lawsuit.

If the work is not being done in a high quality, timely manner, then your clients will not take the work at home industry seriously! There will never be bigger, better paying projects. Word of mouth will not be good, not just for your company, but for the industry itself. There is a reason why 98% of the WAH industry is phone work. The software required for that is easily controlled on the company's end but for data entry type stuff, it's all on the side of the workforce.

That takes trust. A lot of it. But when the work we produce is of poor quality and not within deadline, we don't earn that trust.

So what can companies and clients do to help build trust in the online marketplace? What can you as a company do to help improve the reputation of the work at home workforce? It's simple really.

Remember that without your workforce, you will not get work completed with high quality and in a timely manner. Pay your workforce accordingly, and treat them well. After all, it isn't the clients that are the backbone of your company. Your company is built on the strength of your workforce!

As a workforce, what can we do to improve work at home sweatshop conditions? Know your worth, and don't take anything less. There are a lot of great companies out there. You may have to dig to find them but they are there. Know your worth! Stand up and say "I am worth more than this!" (Just don't do it on my CSA project please. That one does have potential for decent wages, as many of my partners show me every pay period!)