Supply Chains & Working Conditions During the Long Pandemic: Lessons for a New Moral Political Economy?

In recent decades, the global economy has become increasingly structured around supply chains that connect firms within and across national borders, a reliance that has been the subject of controversy in light of disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to these disruptions, firms have adapted in various ways to maintain their level of production. In this essay, we describe two approaches companies pursued during the pandemic: the "sweating " strategy in which firms shifted costs onto the worker, and the "securing " strategy in which firms chose instead to invest resources into supporting their workforce. In doing so, we argue that the companies' respective approaches in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic reflected their long-standing management models. Furthermore, we suggest that the insights gained from examining these approaches may provide a novel perspective on how to reimagine the current political economy.