Due to the rising number of suicides at its China plant, Foxconn Technology Group, the manufacturer of the Apple iPhone and iPad tablet computer, announced on Thursday that it will raising its workers’ pay by 30 percent to curb further incidents from happening again.
Taiwan-based Foxconn pushed the alarm button after several reported cases of suicides due to inhumane conditions in its plant in China.
“We hope that the increase in workers’ salary will give them extra time for themselves and to go out with other people since there will be no need for overtime in their working hours,” a Foxconn official familiar with the matter said.
Based on records, at least ten people have already committed suicide while three others attempted to but were stopped by fellow workers.
Many of the cases involved workers jumping off the buildings while another worker slashed his wrists inside the factory dormitory.
Many of labor activists around the world criticize Foxconn for having a rigid management style, causing major mental torture to its employees. The company, however, denied such allegations.
Labor activists accuse the company of having a rigid management style, an excessively fast assembly line and forced overwork. Foxconn denies the allegations.
Meanwhile, the company said that the raise in the workers’ pay may also give the company advantages in terms of rise in productivity, lower turnover rate, and higher quality in their products.
The 30 percent increase was higher that the 20 percent originally planned by Foxconn.
Based on records, the average salary rate at Foxconn is $130 per month (an iPhone cost higher than this).
The company said that the wage increase is also necessary for them to cope up with the worsening labor shortage after the financial crisis that hit the country.
The company, part of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is the world’s largest contract maker of electronics. Its long list of big-name customers include Apple Inc., Sony Corp., Dell Inc., Nokia Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.
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