Many billion dollar shoe companies prefer not to do their own manufacturing. They subcontract production with foreign businesses in Asia where workers receive rock bottom wages. The shoe companies that are participating in this cheap act include Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Puma, Hi-Tec, and many others. All of these companies stick to their own advertising, product development, and distribution while contracting Third World factories to produce their products.
No company is paying or treating their workers better than another. This is because in an Asian factory you will see the rival brands rolling off parallel conveyor belts in the same factory. I have chosen to concentrate on Nike instead of other brands because Nike is the leader in its industry, not only in terms of market share, but in design, comfort, and advertising. Where Nike goes, other companies tend to follow.
In 1984 the $5.2 billion dollar Nike Corp. closed its last U.S. factory and moved its entire production to the cheap labor in Asia. Some 65,000 Nike U.S. shoe workers lost their jobs because of the move over seas (Putnam, Internet). Making these sport shoes does benefit developing countries. It brings money, jobs, and some skills are shared. However, Nike's target is not so. As Taiwan and South Korea democratized, unions became legal, and wages began to rise, Nike immediately began to look for new undeveloped havens of low wages. New operations were set up in Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Thailand. Nike now has a work force of only 8,000 employees. The 350,000 people who make their shoes in Asia (Hua, "Nike Protest Charges Abuses of Employees.") are employed by subcontractors, not Nike.
In the past couple of years Nike has taken in and responded to criticism of its contractors' factories with a number of initiatives. The first one was their Code of Conduct for their contractors. The