Farewell FOMO, hail to the JOMO
Want to know more about the hidden labor exploitation within the global weapons industry? Click on to find out more.
The arms industry is one of the few consistently growing industries, perpetually generating increased profits. But at what cost? In addition to the ethical issues surrounding the distribution and circulation of weapons, workers in arms production pay the price to produce weapons for one of the most lucrative industries in the world.
The working conditions for those working in arms productions can be dangerous and demanding. Yet, often, workers earn wages far below a livable standard.
Vast supply chains stretch across multiple continents to meet the production demands of military equipment.
While major defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Airbus SE, and Dassault Aviation are located in wealthy nations like the United States, the UK, and France, respectively, the production is largely outsourced to regions where labor costs are low, production oversight is weak, and regulations are minimal, if existing at all.
Major defense contractors, largely based in the US and Europe, play a significant role in perpetuating these conditions, as these companies largely rely on supply chains that subcontract to regions where labor is cheaper and regulations are less strict.
Southeast Asian countries, particularly Thailand and the Philippines, play a critical role in the manufacturing of components for military equipment, notably metal parts, ammunition, and electronics, exported to the US and Europe. Low wages and lack of unions for the sector leave workers with little resources.
Countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have increasingly relied on imported labor to fuel growing military production capabilities, often relying on migrant labor from South Asia and Africa.
Production lines for weapons systems, such as armored vehicles and drones, have expanded rapidly in Saudi Arabia. Yet many of the workers in these factories are migrants that work within the kafala system, in which residency status is tied to employers.
Pictured here is a migrant worker who escaped their work place in Saudi Arabia and went into hiding.
Across many sectors migrant workers often face asymmetrical labor conditions in comparison to their national counterparts, with little to no access to legal resources.
Similarly, in the UAE, migrant workers, primarily from South Asia, produce weapon parts to be exported. These workers face challenging working environments and conditional work permits that leave them at the whims of their employers.
In the West, Eastern Europe has become the primary hub for weapons manufacturing. Countries like Bulgaria, Romania, and Poland produce parts for military hardware that are primarily sold to NATO countries.
In Bulgaria in particular, the arms industry secures a key part of the national economy. Exploitative working conditions, with a lack of regulation and low wages, expose workers to serious risks and vulnerabilities.
Poland is a production site for companies like Lockheed Martin. Attractive due to weak labor laws, workers face little to no labor protections, facilitating exploitative work conditions and health risks.
While African countries are not leading producers of weaponry, several are the primary source of raw material extraction essential to the global arms trade.
These extractive processes are a major form of labor exploitation, but also of environmental degradation.
There are minerals and resources essential to the production of weapons systems, such as cobalt and gold.
Nearly 60% of the world’s cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is used in the production of batteries for aerospace technologies. Also referred to as a "conflict mineral," many of the profits from cobalt mining are linked to armed groups.
Cobalt mines are largely small operations in dangerous conditions for little pay, often relying on the labor of small children.
Known as the Gold Coast, Ghana is the leading gold producer in Africa, totaling over 40% of its total export earnings. Gold is a key component in the production of electronics for a number of weapons systems.
Despite the stronghold gold mining has in countries like Ghana and Mali, most mines lack safety regulations and are subjected to harsh working conditions, leaving workers, many of whom are children, exposed to serious health risks.
Exploitation of labor in the arms industry is symptomatic of labor exploitation across many sectors that prioritize high profits over ethical labor protections.
The arms industry has an additional component that further complicates discussions on ethnics; namely that the products that are manufactured, whether in part or whole, are used to propel global conflicts.
Laborers, particularly those working from areas that have little to no labor unions or other forms of representation that can advocate for workers’ well-being, often face invisibilized harm in an industry that profits from violence.
Similar to global calls for stronger labor protections across the world, in all sectors, the arms production supply chain must also ensure that workers receive adequate compensation, perform their duties in safe environments, and have access to resources to advocate for themselves.
In general, transparency in the global arms trade is a major issue in the context of global conflict and the illicit sale of arms.
Like all major companies, defense entities should also be required to disclose their supply chains and report on their activities, including labor conditions.
Governments that purchase weapons are dully responsible to ensure they are not complicit in labor exploitation, whether directly or contractually.
The arms industry is raking in record profits, beyond even their most generous projections. According to Vertical Research Partners, the top 15 defense contractors alone are set to bring in a Log Free Cash Flow (cash remaining after expenditures) of US$52 billion in 2026.
Despite the arms industry’s lucrative means, the sector relies on a lack of regulation of working environments and the exploitation of working conditions within its supply chain to reap those benefits.
These conditions can create both traumatic conditions for workers, and a lack of resilience for the sector.
Sources: (IPIS) (DHS) (Financial Times) (The Independent) (Amnesty International) (CHRB) (ILO) (UNODA)
See also: The key raw materials needed to power the devices of the future
Exposing labor exploitation in the arms industry
Exposing the human cost of profits
LIFESTYLE Conflict
The weapons trade industry relies on a workforce subjected to low wages and poor working conditions to maintain maximum profitability. Systemic inequalities and labor abuses fuel the industry’s record success. But the overlooked burdens behind the production of military equipment comes at a cost to human life and well-being. Transparency, accountability, and ethical reforms are urgently needed to protect workers' rights in the sector.
Want to know more about the hidden labor exploitation within the global weapons industry? Click on to find out more.