CEO concern rising over supply chain human rights abuse

There is rising concern among CEOs about human rights abuses in their supply chains, according to a 3,000-strong survey by supply chain consultant Proxima.

Its survey of CEOs from the DACH region, Benelux, the UK and the US found that 71% are concerned about human rights abuses this year, compared with 66% a year ago.

Concern was highest among CEOs in utilities (78%), manufacturing (77%), raw materials (75%) and retail (75%).

Proxima says the sectors showing greatest concern “have had their fair share of publicity around human and labour rights issues in recent years”. Fashion retailer Shein recently disclosed cases of child labour identified among its suppliers last year.

Publishing the survey results as part of its Supply Chain Barometer, Proxima also finds that 86% of CEOs recognise resilience weak spot in their supply chains, although the percentage of CEOs stating they do not foresee resilience issues increased from 10% to 14%.

“As the future of supply chains continues to evolve and globalisation makes somewhat of a U-turn, CEOs are seeking different ways to build resilience against predictive and unforeseen risks,” Proxima says.

“What’s clear is that there is no single silver bullet, but multiple active strategies are underway,” it adds.

The majority (99%) of CEOs surveyed say barriers remain to decarbonise their supply chains. These are led by the complexity of such work, for 29% of respondents, but followed closely by costs (24%), lack of specialist skills and talent (23%), and lack of access to data (22%).

“The reality for organisations that have set decarbonisation targets by 2030 is that only one to two sourcing cycles are left to get key suppliers on board with the programme,” Proxima points out.

CEOs from the European market were included in Proxima’s annual barometer for the first time this year. Proxima says CEOs in DACH and Benelux tend to feel more confident about sustainability and their ability to implement emerging regulations than CEOs in the UK and US.

Further, 82% of CEOs in this year’s survey, up from 60%, say they have sufficient visibility and transparency across the supply chain to inform decision making.

The survey reveals that 66% of CEOs estimate they will spend more than 10% of their working week on supply chain-related issues “The challenges that suppliers pose and address are now clearly seen as business-impacting topics. Ones that deserve a significant proposition of the CEOs’ attention,” Proxima says. “For now, the CEOs’ eyes are very firmly on supply chains.”