Google has produced a series of virtual reality (VR) videos which purportedly show what life is like working for two of its suppliers in Africa and China.

The 360 degree videos, which were published alongside its 2018 Responsible Supply Chain report, claim to put viewers in the shoes of workers at an electronics factory in China and a gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In China, the video follows Wang Chao, a 27-year-old factory worker for Flex, an electronics supplier. Wearing a VR camera headset, Chao also narrated the video, saying: “I like to work here and I have been here for many years.”

She is one of around 40,000 workers at the plant in Zhuhai, in southern China. “I chose to join this factory because people said this factory was better and the benefits were good,” she said.

Later on, other employees are heard saying things such as, “We have the right to working in a healthy and safe environment,” and “We have a right to be respected.”

Another video, released in September, follows a day in the life of Congolese workers at a formerly illegal mine in Nyamurhale, which is now one of just three conflict-free artisanal gold mines in the DRC, according to Google.

Read more