AMHERST, MA -- A new study of some 501 electronics workers in Malaysia found that 28% in situations of forced labor.

The rate of forced labor among only foreign workers was higher, at 32%, or nearly one in every three foreign workers.

The research was conducted by Verité, a US-based NGO, using employing a mixed methods approach to field data collection. The sample included foreign workers from seven countries, as well as Malaysian nationals. Funding was supplied by the US Department of Labor.

Forced labor was found in the study sample in significant numbers across all major producing regions, electronics products, foreign worker nationalities, and among both female and male workers. These results suggest that forced labor is present in the Malaysian electronics industry in more than isolated incidents, and can indeed be characterized as widespread, Verité said.

Forced labor is linked to recruitment fee charging and the indebtedness that follows. Recruitment fee charging of foreign workers was found to be pervasive in the study sample, and fees were often excessive.

Per the study, 92% of all foreign workers surveyed paid recruitment fees in order to get their jobs. The recruitment fees that workers paid for their jobs often exceeded legal and industry standards equivalent to one month’s wage. Of workers reporting recruitment fees paid to employment agents in their home countries, 92% were excessive. Of respondents reporting fees paid to their employment agent in Malaysia, 99% reported excessive levels. Seventy-seven percent of workers who were charged fees had to borrow in order to pay them. Workers who had to borrow money to pay recruitment fees reported paying higher fees, on average, than workers who did not have to borrow. This suggests that higher fees mean a higher likelihood of indebtedness for workers.

Verité conducted a combination of desk and field research, employing a mixed methods approach to field data collection. A total of 501 electronics workers were interviewed using a quantitative survey form by a team of twelve researchers. The sample included foreign workers from seven countries, as well as Malaysian nationals. A set of longer, semi-structured interviews were also conducted, to supplement the quantitative data. These interviews were used to explore particular aspects of vulnerability to forced labor, and to profile how various risk factors can combine to trap workers in their jobs. Regional and global stakeholders from civil society, government and business were also consulted. Interpretation of the data was guided by the International Labor Organization’s survey guidelines to estimate forced labor. 

The NGO found pervasive debt incurred by workers who paid to enter the country, as 95% of workers who borrowed money to pay recruitment fees took longer than three months to pay off the debt, and 50% took longer than a year. When one considers that the typical work contract for a foreign worker is two years in duration (with the option of a third year extension), this means 50% of workers were paying off recruitment debt for at least half of their first work contract.

Moreover, the investigators found the majority of workers had their passports taken away, that 30% slept in rooms shared by eight or more persons, and that most workers had to pay steep fees in order to leave before their contracts were up.