2026 HACE Sectoral Corporate Child Labour Benchmark

Highlighting Governance Excellence

HACE has launched its first Sectoral Corporate Child Labour Benchmark, focused on the Technology Consumer Hardware sector, to evaluate the public disclosures of the top 10 publicly listed companies (over $1B USD revenue) on how they acknowledge, identify, mitigate, and remedy child labour in their deep supply chains. As the backbone of the global economy, the technology sector’s footprint is vast and its responsibilities are growing.

This new benchmark shifts the focus from compliance to spotlighting excellent and innovative corporate governance approaches. 

The release is timely, given that nearly 138 million children remain in exploitative work globally, and the technology sector faces growing risks. These risks include the AI infrastructure boom's demand for mineral extractives and the rise of online exploitation like the ‘kidfluencer’ economy. The report emphasises that technology supply chains built on Child Labour is inherently unstable and presents severe operational and reputational risks.

By analysing public governance documents, HACE provides a transparent mechanism to encourage disclosure, share best practices, and drive measurable, positive change for vulnerable children worldwide.