Social Sustainability
Subcontracting
Definition
Subcontracting is the practice of a contractor or supplier passing part or all of an order to another producer, with or without the buyer's knowledge. In apparel, electronics and agriculture it is routine capacity management; unauthorised subcontracting — the shadow factory problem — routes production into unaudited facilities where excessive hours, unsafe conditions and wage theft concentrate. Declared subcontracting under approval conditions is the compliance alternative.
References
Source imported for editorial provenance.
This reference provides supporting context for how “Subcontracting” is defined and used.
Overview
How it is used
The concept structures responsible sourcing policy, social audit scope, labour intermediaries regulation, and due diligence laws extending duties beyond direct suppliers.
Why it matters
Subcontracting is how responsibility gets diluted with distance; governing it is how supply chain standards reach the workers who actually make the goods.