Foxconn, the largest electronics manufacturer in the world, has admitted that some of its employees may not have met the minimum age of employment in China. Already a subject of huge controversy surrounding its labour conditions, this latest allegation is not helping the manufacturer’s ailing reputation.
No journalist has ever gained access to Foxconn, the secretive company that builds all the beautiful iPads and iPhone and Macbooks that Apple gets us to consume like sweeties. ABC’s show Nightline managed to gain access to this factory which employs 250 000 people and is the size of a city (they also make products […]
Because robots can’t get depressed over awful working conditions and commit suicide, you see. Also we don’t have a robot union yet, so Foxconn (the guys who manufacture the iPhone and iPad) won’t need to worry about the slowly increasing factory worker wages in Taiwan, which are driving overhead costs upwards throughout the fancy-technology-making-industry.
The infamous Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China, has claimed another life, when a 21 year-old male worker “fell to his death” from the sixth floor of a factory dormitory. More than a dozen similar fatalities by falling were reported last year.
Chinese factories making iPads and iPhones are forcing staff to sign pledges not to commit suicide. If your first reaction to this story’s headline is one of confusion, then join the club. I mean, why would someone who builds iPads for a living be anything but ecstatic, right? But do yourself a favour and read through the rest of this piece before switching careers.