Would you work for a company you consider unethical?

[SparkFinder]

I've spotted a job advert that would be perfect for me. I know someone who works for the company and they are a great employer by all accounts. But they are in an unethical industry. Imagine gambling, alcohol, cigarettes, defence, that kind of thing. There are people made miserable by how they make their money. But it could be great for me and my family. Would you work somewhere like that?

Not if it was gambling because of the misery it causes. And alcohol.

I've done this when younger - worked for an online gambling company despite qualms. Having done it once, I wouldn't do it again, but at the time I felt like I needed the job and the experience.

My other experience was that as a company that make money in a way that is often exploitative is that they 100% exploited their own staff too! They tried to totally shaft me in terms of work expectations and pay. So overall - I did, I wouldn't again.

No, which is why almost my entire working life was in the public or third sector.

For me it depends on role as well. I was offered a very lucrative job at a bookies a few years back. I don't personally think gambling should be illegal but this role would have involved lobbying against restraints on gambling. I just couldn't see myself being able to put masses of effort into reducing protection for gambling addicts. I turned it down on that basis. I wouldn't work for a tobacco company at all or an arms manufacturer.

I mean, it would depend what it was. A company that operates on cheap labour, trafficking, etc, no. A company that was homophobic in the 90's but isn't anymore and had made steps to improve, sure. Alcohol, yes. Conditions like alcoholism are driven by mental illness, poverty, poor education, etc, not the existence of advertising or whatever. Anything related to porn, no. Factories selling arms abroad, no.

I work in mental health services. Historically, mental health treatment has been absolutely barbaric, and I still think mental health services aren't fit for purpose and that a lot of unethical practices go on. But I'm one person, and I'm passionate about it, and I try my best to provide great care and compassion. I'm outspoken and will always advocate for better. There's not much else I can do.

It also depends on your circumstances- I will never judge anyone for doing what they need to do to survive. There is ultimately no ethical consumption under capitalism.

I think everyone can and should think about the ethics of their job, but no one should drive themselves crazy with it. We are all at the mercy of the system and we have to work to get by.

I'd do gambling and alcohol and those are all personal choices that you have control over. I don't think I'd be able to do weapons dealing.

Depends - would I work for a company performing animal testing for the cosmetics industry? Absolutely not.

Would I work for a large food manufacturing company which sells mainly UPF - probably.

I think it depends.

Gambling, yes - whilst appreciating it causes a lot of misery, I gamble for fun, many others do
too, and I don’t inherently see anything wrong with it.

Alcohol - no issue, yes I would.

Tobacco - Probably not but I’d also consider it to be something of a dying sector.

High interest pay day lender - nope.

Arms - yes, depending on the company and their products, and who they sell them to.

Porn - no.

Fossil Fuels - depends on the company.

Its interesting people say animal testing. You would never take any medications if you didnt take ones that were tested on animals! I work in pharma and I used to work in oil and gas. Pharma is ethically fine for me, people need medicine and the oil and gas company I worked for sold more environmental alternatives to existing products so I thought that was ok. Like others have said everyone has their own ethics, I would have to be pretty desperate to work for a company that sold weapons, I would also struggle with payday loan type company and if I was in the US medical insurance. But I'd happily work for BUPA over here as we all have the option of the NHS.

But these can also be very unethical. Look at Oxfam and Haiti. That’s just one example and I have no doubt there are plenty of others. Look at councils fleecing taxpayers and residents. Look at the inefficiencies of the NHS - I doubt those inefficiencies would be allowed in the private sector.

So it’s not as black and white as that. If you have a pension almost certainly you won’t like every organisation it’s invested in.

@SparkFinder it’s up to you, but ultimately you don’t owe anyone else ran explanation whether you take the job or not. We all have our different lines in the sand or issues we care passionately about. And we all have our different privileges that allow us to make our choices.

Honestly, it would depend how unethical.

I'd work for a gambling company, but not for one that sold arms.

I would work in the tobacco or alcohol industry because I drink and smoke. But only if they paid me really well and it was a really nice place to work.

I wouldn't want to work for Lockheed Martin or some other bomb making company though. Or the military. And I wouldn't work for anyone on the far right.

I have mainly worked in the public sector and third sector - I don't think Big Oil would have me as have been involved in Climate Change campaigning previously. Would decline tobacco, alcohol, arms, factory farming, gambling but might have done something as a temp job if no other option... Knew someone who worked for GCHQ and the background research they did on all contacts was quite scary too.

No. I'm vegan, so I wouldn't work anywhere where animal testing is used or in the meat/dairy industry, for example.

I actually got offered quite a lot of money to do some copywriting work for a U.S. gun company, and I turned that down, too. I'm far from perfect, but I do try to practice what I preach.

@SparkFinder

no. I resigned from a huge job as they asked me to do something wrong.

so no I would not work for an unethical business

i have done in the past and also at the current one I’m working for, I have a disability which makes it hard to get a job sometimes, so I can’t afford to be picky and current one comes with great health benefits which again is a huge benefit for me.

It's interesting what our yes's and no's are. I have no problem working in animal testing but would not want to work with a company who made UPF whereas another poster is exactly the opposite. I guess we all just want to make a living and be able to sleep at night.

It is really interesting how each person's unethical is different. I'm lucky that I'm not desperate, I have a contract coming to an end later this year but have a little cushion so I have time to find something else. A previous company I worked at behaved in a way I didn't feel comfortable with and it did make me squeamish, but I wanted to move anyway as I was bored in my work. So I think the people talking about how it would make you feel, or feel later, resonates. I think it would take the shine off what, on paper, would be my ideal job. I think I would cringe a little on the inside everytime I told people where I worked. I do also think the points about, is anywhere 100% good, are true. I know a friend who worked in a charity where the board ran it for their own benefit, it was awful. So no guarantees anywhere, but as I have a choice I think I'll stay away.

Panorama recently exposed unethical behaviours in both the Met police and an estate agents. I wouldn't work for the met but I would work in an estate agents. Maybe thats because I hold the Met to standards higher than have been shown via the expose?
But if this is a organisation well known for "what it does" id call a spade a spade and crack on with the job personally

I wouldn’t. I’ve turned down jobs before on these grounds.

I don’t have to agree with every decision my employer takes, but I would be a massive hypocrite if I worked for an organisation that I considered to be fundamentally harmful or exploitative or wrong.

If it benefitted me and my family more than another job would, I would probably take it. Lots of industries are unethical in some way. Chemicals, tech, finance, fossil fuels, fashion etc.

I do actually work for one of the places mentioned as a big no, but I genuinely try to do the best for the people I deal with. Not everyone working there is like me but I know I've made a huge positive difference for some people's lives.

Everyone has a price

I work in defence, it’s my second career. In my first interview one of the questions was whether I know what the company makes and whether I am ok with its implication on an ethical level. I don’t think I can work somewhere I’m not ok with

If I were in a position to be choosy about jobs I wouldn’t do it. But ultimately I have to keep my family fed with a roof over their heads so I will do what it takes if it comes to it. And I certainly wouldn’t judge anyone else for doing it. Times are hard right now.