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You might have heard that there has been a rash of suicides at Foxconn, a manufacturing partner with Apple, Nokia, and many other big names in tech. Since January, there have been thirteen suicide attempts, ten successful. There’s a whole lot that Foxconn is trying to do to change this situation: of the more reasonable solutions, there’s a 20% pay increase, counseling, and Apple is reportedly chipping in 1% – 2% of iPhone sales to go to Foxconn employees. On the crazier side, they apparently hired an exorcist, and new workers now have to sign a pledge to not kill themselves.
An independent investigation revealed that though it’s not quite a sweatshop, the employees are under obscenely close scrutiny and aren’t paid especially well. Apple, among other customers like HP and Dell, have begun looking into the obvious morale issue, and although salary does seem to be the biggest complaint, hopefully the investigation will bear a more long-term solution than throwing money at the problem.
As bad as the situation’s become, it’s worth remembering not all Foxconn employees are depressed and on the verge of suicide.
[ZOL via Engadget and MIC Gadget]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
