Foxconn Again Raises Wages for Entry-Level Workers

I am glad that these poor workers will see a raise, but if Apple or anyone else thinks this solves the issue as a whole, get real.

Anyone who feels different, your point is invalid unless you personally have worked in those conditions.

Wow ... just a little arrogant. Have YOU worked in those conditions.

Having worked with more than a few Chinese engineers, let me share with you a little cultural difference that you may/may not be aware of. China is largely agricultural in nature. In the Chinese culture, marriage is a really big deal. It's a huge deal. In a small village, everyone is expected to be invited to your wedding, and if the food or anything about the wedding is 'bland' .. you have insulted your neighbor. Failure to invite a villager is a deep insult.

So, many people work years (Plural) saving to pay for their wedding. But wait, instead of saving and scrimping for years - you can work a contract shift at Foxconn for 3 months or more; and pay for an elaborate wedding feast. What's more, you can work for 6 months or more and not only pay for your wedding, but buy a parcel of land to farm and immediately raise your family.

Many of those folk working at Foxconn are from the interior of China, where they live as farmers. Basically, subsistance living. They have no ambition to move to the city and work like this forever - this is a temporary job; this is why Foxconn provides dorms, cafeterias, medical, housekeeping and even laundry services. The Foxconn plant near Shenzhen employs between 250,000 to 450,000 people. That places that single factory on the scale of being the size of the top 45 cities in the USA. That is freakin' HUGE!!

These people have Foxconn to thank for this boon to their lives ... or would you rather that Foxconn just pack up and move somewhere else?

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I'd like to know the typical taxes as well as expenses for housing, food, transportation, and utilities. If low, then net-net I may be better off working for Foxconn!

You sign a contract - from there your living costs are ZERO. You live in a dorm, eat at a cafeteria, use the plant medical center, use the plant laundromat. You have no living expenses at all.

Maybe the workers could form a union

Uh boy. Do you even know what kind of government China has?

I am glad that these poor workers will see a raise, but if Apple or anyone else thinks this solves the issue as a whole, get real.

Anyone who feels different, your point is invalid unless you personally have worked in those conditions.

Have you worked in those conditions, or do you have firsthand knowledge of what those conditions are?

Only $290 a month? :(

$290 in OUR money.

So, instead of having 30,000 Chinese people applying for 1,000 jobs; now Foxconn will have 50,000 applying for those same 1.000 jobs.

What is the rate of pay for the Textile industry? I'll bet those folks making shoes, shirts, pants, socks and underwear aren't making nearly as much - and are working in a much more brutal environment.

Only $290 a month? What is the cost of living over there anyways? They couldn't even afford an iPad that they're making :(

Err... so? How many people making a Mercedes Benz can afford one? Or Ferrari? None of the NASA workers could afford a Space Shuttle... Get real, please! The iPad is a luxary item. Besides, a lot of people buy items they cannot afford like houses, cars, etc and then we wonder that there is a financial crisis... And the cost of living drops quickly there because Foxconn offers room&board (did you read the article?) and they see this job as a way to save money for a house, maybe a car, and to start a career at Foxconn or with that reference.

I am not saying the wages are fair or unfair or just. I just try to stay real - for most of the applicants, this is the best paying job available to them in whole China.

Anyway why is Apple getting all the shit. Foxxcon makes products for ALL the major tech companies but every1 is focusing on apple and they are the only company sending in inspectors. Id rather work there than in a Nike factory.

I hope you were working in finance/accounting/banking, where salaries are significantly higher than the Foxconn workers we are discussing here.

Nope, I wasn't getting much over minimum wage and working in a construction zone what was probably more dangerous than the typical assembly line.

Only $290 a month? What is the cost of living over there anyways? They couldn't even afford an iPad that they're making :(

Stats from 2005:

Half the world (over 3 billion people) live on less than $2.50 per day.
At least 80% (over 5 billion people) live on less than $10.00 per day.

Foxconn workers can SAVE $290 per month while having essentially zero expenses.

Some people here should get a broader perspective of how the rest of the world lives.