New Balance
New Balance Provides Stability in Shenzhen
A "Made In China" tag is often associated with poorly paid women laboring over cheap goods for Western buyers. But a Fast Company article illustrates a more complicated reality.
According to Fast Company, the New Balance shoe company is what makes life in Shenzhen, China possible. Without it, the economy is built on unreliable incomes from jobs like building infrastructure and driving. But while the men work these seasonal jobs, the women in Shenzhen are consistently employed with steady wages.
New Balance, according to Fast Company employs "virtually every... woman of full-time-employment age." Without the factory, Shenzhen would be subjected to fluctuating and often impoverished migrant populations.
Some Western corporations in China undoubtedly do harm. But some, like the New Balance factory, create the opportunity for stability in otherwise severe economic conditions.
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