Posted on Friday, May 21 2010 @ 11:10 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Chinese news site Southern Weekend send a reporter on a 28-day undercover mission at Foxconn's Shenzhen factory, as part of an investigation on what could have led to the high number of suicides at the factory.
) for front-line workers, it appears that the real problem lies in Chinese workers' definition of a "good factory" -- one that pays more by means of offering overtime hours. It's clear what's causing this perception -- there's the sub-standard minimum wage in Shenzhen, and then there are the companies abusing this fact to lure workers with overtime hours above the legal limit.
As the reporter found out, under such environment that keeps ticking throughout the night, stress quietly builds up inside you. Any illness -- be it physical or mental -- accumulated from over-working would simply worsen at a higher rate. Want to talk to a friend about it? Not so easy for newcomers, as it turns out many of the workers didn't actually know the names of their roommates -- we assume this is partly due to the different dialects and shifts, and partly due to the lack of room welcoming for newbies.
More info
at Engadget.
