Reuters reports that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn has announced new wage increases for entry-level workers at its facilities in China, boosting pay anywhere from 16-25 percent. The increase, which comes as Foxconn is again under increasing global pressure stemming from reports on working conditions and worker rights issues at the company, is the company's third wage hike since 2010.
In a statement on Friday, Taiwan-based Foxconn said the pay of a junior level worker in Shenzhen, southern China, had risen to 1,800 yuan ($290) per month and could be further raised above 2,200 yuan if the worker passed a technical examination.
It said that pay three years ago was 900 yuan a month.
Foxconn says that its wages are already far above minimum wage standards set by the government and that it will continue to focus on training and education for its employees. The company also provides room and board for its employees, although some have criticized the living conditions centered around cramped dormitory-style housing with various reports citing anywhere from eight up to fifteen or more beds per room.
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Foxconn made a significant boost to worker salaries in mid-2010 following significant scrutiny over worker suicides at the company's facilities. Initial reports had claimed that Apple was directly subsidizing those wage hikes, but Foxconn later denied those reports.
Top Rated Comments
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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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.
Have you worked in those conditions, or do you have firsthand knowledge of what those conditions are?
$290 in OUR money.
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.
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.