Closing the Gap between Ideals and Reality: Lessons from a Malaysian SME’s Experiment with Ethical Recruitment in the Nepal-Malaysia Corridor

Over the past decade or so, ethical recruitment has become increasingly popular as an aspirational standard for addressing labour violations and human rights issues in the transnational recruitment of migrant workers. While multi-national corporations (MNCs) – both international buyers and their Tier 1 suppliers – have been quick to adopt and codify ethical recruitment principles in their company codes of conduct, the same cannot be said for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) further down the supply chain. Grounded in a case study of a small packaging company in Penang, Malaysia, this article explores how SMEs navigate their human resources and financial constraints in their attempt to practise ethical recruitment. We conclude with some brief reflections on the role of recruitment agents and the (in)equitable allocation of costs across global supply chains in making ethical recruitment a realistic and achievable goal for SMEs.