In class on Tuesday, we discussed the working conditions and suicide rate of Foxconn, the massive industrial plant in China. The article from Wired stated that the factory life was very bleak and a combination of long hours, repetitive tasks and low pay with no hope of higher employment caused workers to commit suicide. However an article on the Huffington Post by Reuters picked up on something that Wired did not: the age of the workers and where they are coming from. The main body of workers are young men from rural China. These young men have never been away from their families before and do not know how to deal with the factory’s stress-inducing industrial lifestyle. The factory didn’t realize at first that it needed staff to help with emotional problems. The Fair Labor Association can attest for the labor conditions of Foxconn. Apple joined the FLA to ensure its workers had decent working conditions. According to the FLA, when compared to other industries in China, such as the garment industry, Foxconn had great working conditions and amazing facilities. This article shows a different side to the suicides at Foxconn. Whereas the Wired article put the blame on the factory, this article showed that most of the stress came from the quick lifestyle change of its young workers.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/15/foxconn-working-conditions_n_1278968.html