Labour generates value. An employee generates value and the employer pays the employee only a fraction of the value generated, after paying off all expenses. Th

Labour generates value. An employee generates value and the employer pays the employee only a fraction of the value generated, after paying off all expenses. That is called profit. Marx defines exploitation in the amoral sense, like exploiting natural resources. Customers don’t get exploited in this way. They generally are also employees of some company that does exploit them, but that is a separate relationship.