From human rights to business resilience: Growing momentum for living wages
Human rights are a core driver of business resilience. If we want resilient supply chains and fair outcomes for people, living wages must be at the centre. When workers earn a living wage, companies gain stable operations, stronger supplier relationships and long-term value creation. It can’t be achieved alone; it takes partnership across the entire value chain. Advancing living wages is a strategic investment.
This message captured the spirit of the 2025 UN Forum on Business & Human Rights last week. The Forum’s theme Accelerating action on business and human rights amidst crises and transformations speaks directly to the challenges companies face today.
Many of the Forum’s 3,000+ participants came from business. This shows that human rights are not a compliance exercise, nor a legacy discussion. They are fundamental to business performance. Yet supplier and worker perspectives remain under-represented in global conversations. To unlock real impact, we need to bring them fully into the conversation. Collaboration at scale starts with suppliers being treated as partners.
One of the strong signals from the Forum was the growing commitment to living wages. We believe living wages is a key element in solving several of today's social development challenges, from reducing inequality to advancing human rights and driving economic empowerment.
IDH and The UN Global Compact hosted a session with companies and expert organisations in the UN Global Compact Faster Forward Living Wage Target Two program, a program to advance the implementation of Target 2: Establish a joint action plan(s) with contractors, supply chain partners and other key stakeholders to work towards achieving living wages and/or living incomes with measurable and time-bound milestones.
We discussed how to use the upcoming new living wage guidance that UN Global Compact and IDH have developed this year, and how to drive further collective action in 2026, both globally and in selected countries that have the opportunity to drive collective action.
“Ensuring a living wage is both a fundamental human right and a strategic investment in stronger, more resilient businesses. When companies put people at the center of their operations, they unlock productivity, loyalty, and sustainable growth. Leading on living wages means leading the way Forward Faster.”
The UN Global Compact and IDH are long-term partners in driving industry-wide progress on living wages. This work is deepened by advancing the Forward Faster Living Wage action.
We are co-creating new guidance and a practical curriculum, drawing on the expertise of multinationals, suppliers and independent specialists, to help companies build joint action plans with suppliers and track progress over time. The resulting learning materials will be available through the UN Global Compact Academy.
The interactions this week at the Forum reaffirmed that human rights and business resilience are deeply interconnected. Living wages is one of the practical, measurable and scalable ways for companies to support workers, strengthen supply chains and contribute to fairer outcomes across sectors.
“Human rights are a core driver of business resilience. If we want resilient supply chains and fair outcomes for people, living wages must be at the centre. When workers earn a living wage, companies gain stable operations, stronger supplier relationships and long-term value creation. It can’t be achieved alone, it takes partnership across the entire value chain. Advancing living wages is a strategic investment.”
Article by Chris Kip, Head, Social Sustainability at The UN Global Compact and Jordy van Honk, Director Income and Jobs at IDH.