Foxconn: It's the same old story
By William Foreman |
May 28, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A FOXCONN Technology worker tried to kill himself yesterday, becoming the 13th person to attempt or succeed with suicides this year at the company, which makes high-tech products for industry giants such as Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard. Ten have died.
Police said the man survived after cutting his wrists in his factory dormitory room, Xinhua news agency reported.
It said the 25-year-old man, surnamed Chen, migrated from central China's Hunan Province and began working at Foxconn two months ago.
The 12 previous suicide attempts at Foxconn Technology Group's operations in Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong Province, involved workers who jumped from buildings. Two survived. Another worker killed himself in January at a Foxconn factory in northern China.
On Wednesday night, a 23-year-old worker from northwest China's Gansu Province killed himself by leaping from a dormitory balcony.
Hours earlier, Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou had led a media tour of the industrial park and promised to work harder to prevent more deaths.
Gou said he couldn't sleep at night and dreaded answering his phone in off hours, fearing more news about deaths.
He showed off a motherboard factory, hotline center and a swimming pool for employees. The walled-in industrial park, where 300,000 people work, looks like a small city, with palm tree-lined streets, fast-food restaurants, banks and a book store among huge factory buildings and towering dormitories.
Gou said the company would do everything possible to prevent more deaths. Safety nets were being installed on buildings and more counselors were being hired.
He also said all the employees were being divided into 50-member groups, whose members would watch for signs of emotional trouble within their group.
Some people accuse the company of having a rigid management style, a too-fast assembly line and crippling hours. Foxconn denies the allegations.
The company, part of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, is the world's largest contract maker of electronics. Its long list of big-name customers also includes Sony and Nokia.
Police said the man survived after cutting his wrists in his factory dormitory room, Xinhua news agency reported.
It said the 25-year-old man, surnamed Chen, migrated from central China's Hunan Province and began working at Foxconn two months ago.
The 12 previous suicide attempts at Foxconn Technology Group's operations in Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong Province, involved workers who jumped from buildings. Two survived. Another worker killed himself in January at a Foxconn factory in northern China.
On Wednesday night, a 23-year-old worker from northwest China's Gansu Province killed himself by leaping from a dormitory balcony.
Hours earlier, Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou had led a media tour of the industrial park and promised to work harder to prevent more deaths.
Gou said he couldn't sleep at night and dreaded answering his phone in off hours, fearing more news about deaths.
He showed off a motherboard factory, hotline center and a swimming pool for employees. The walled-in industrial park, where 300,000 people work, looks like a small city, with palm tree-lined streets, fast-food restaurants, banks and a book store among huge factory buildings and towering dormitories.
Gou said the company would do everything possible to prevent more deaths. Safety nets were being installed on buildings and more counselors were being hired.
He also said all the employees were being divided into 50-member groups, whose members would watch for signs of emotional trouble within their group.
Some people accuse the company of having a rigid management style, a too-fast assembly line and crippling hours. Foxconn denies the allegations.
The company, part of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, is the world's largest contract maker of electronics. Its long list of big-name customers also includes Sony and Nokia.
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