Foxconn Technology Group — the Taiwanese company that manufactures hardware for Apple, Dell, HP, Nokia and Sony and has been hit by a dozen suicides at its plants this year...
In case the rallies, slogans and pay increases don’t raise morale enough to stem the tide of suicides, Foxconn left suicide nets in place at its facilities that are designed to catch workers before they hit the ground...
Foxconn plans to expand its workforce 40 percent, while reducing the number of workers in its Shenzhen industrial park from 470,000 to 300,000 or so over the next five years, perhaps to take pressure off of workers at that plant.
Apple, believed to be Foxconn’s biggest customer, said conditions at Foxconn’s Shenzhen plant were “not a sweatshop” and along with Dell and HP, investigated conditions at its manufacturer’s factories, leading to an earlier pay raise. This latest raise precisely mirrors the recommendation of the China Labor Union Bulletin, which asked Foxconn to pay Shenzhen factory workers at least 2,000 yuan per month (the equivalent of $293), up from 900 yuan.
Full story and photo at wired.com with the reader comments.
