In Xhengzhou, Thousands Vie For Foxconn Jobs 386
hypnosec writes "Foxconn is supposedly looking to enhance its workforce in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou and despite the less-than-satisfactory working conditions in the company, thousands of aspirants are lining up for jobs in its factories. Not caring about the harsh working conditions at Foxconn, thousands of people congregated outside a labor office in Zhengzhou, the largest city of Henan province in North central China, impatiently waiting for a chance to work at Foxconn. Foxconn, which is engaged in assembling iPhones and iPads for Apple, is planning to hire an additional 100000 employees as it is aiming at augmenting its iPhone production."
Liberal Bias in the Western Media (Score:4, Informative)
I first want to make clear that I am not "defending" Foxconn by any means. They definitely have room for improvement, as does every other company. But to say that working conditions at Foxconn are "less-than-satisfactory" and "harsh" is clearly biased.
Relative to most other manufacturing companies in China, Foxconn is actually one of the companies that treats is employees well in that they pay their employees on time, pay overtime when it is due, and provide perks for many of their workers (including rent-free accommodations, meals, entertainment, etc.). Because of that, Foxconn is actually a desirable place to work in China considering the alternatives. Foxconn is providing an opportunity to make a livable wage for millions of people in China.
Again, I am not defending Foxconn, but it really irks me to see people here blast Foxconn for poor working conditions when the vast majority of them have never been to Asia. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. But I really wish people would be more objective in their assessments of the situation.
Please fix headline... (Score:4, Informative)
In Xhengzhou, Thousands Vie For Foxconn Jobs
I know the keys are right next to each other on the keyboard, but "Xhengzhou" is simply not possible in the Chinese spelling system. You got it right in the summary (Zhengzhou), but the headline is just nutty.
Re:Foxconn suicides (Score:4, Informative)
Did I say anything about that?
Re:"less than satisfactory" (Score:2, Informative)
I fail to see how living in poverty implies that sub-human work conditions, which are so appalling that they even force workers to suicide in droves
You meant to state the fact that Foxconn's suicide rate is many times lower than the United States, instead of bullshit like our media does, right? right?
Re:Foxconn suicides (Score:3, Informative)
1.4 billion. 4-5% unemployment rate.
Re:"less than satisfactory" (Score:4, Informative)
I'll try.
Many of the guys we memorialize they were important to our country, say George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, owned slaves.
Cultural relativism allows us to acknowledge the positive things they guys did, while understanding why they simultaneously engaged in something we see as 100% unacceptable.
Re:Foxconn suicides (Score:5, Informative)
I don't get the fuss at all:
Foxconn suicide rate: 3 per 100,000.
US suicide rate: 10 per 100,000.
Chinese average suicide rate: 35 per 100,000.
Foxconn fatal work accident rate: 3.5 per 100,000.
US fatal work accident rate: 3.5 per 100,000.
Foxconn wage: $17 per day.
Chinese average wage: $5 per day.
The chinese are vying for these jobs because the working conditions are great by any measure of what they might get. The wage may seem low to you or I, but when you consider that the economy around there is such that it makes these people pretty bloody rich, it's actually rather good.
Re:Foxconn suicides (Score:5, Informative)
I'm not sure there's a pressing need for people to be sharing their stories of travel to rural Asia, although I don't think most people quite understand what it's like and how the people there live. Think of National Geographic stories of rural Asia from the 70's and you've pretty much got it - it really hasn't changed since then, or since pre-industrial times really.
I traveled in rural Thailand, and stayed with a hill tribe family in their shack-like house. By anyone's standards, it was deplorable. It looked not unlike farm villages you might see in samurai films (other than them not being Japanese) - which are set in the 1800's. The only real difference is that they have motorbikes and a few pickup trucks (and how they're able to afford those, I'm really not sure).
These people are literally wallowing in the mud, like the peasants in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The villages are covered in dried mud, and when it rains (which it does often) the whole place turns into a mud pit of unbelievable proportions.
The other modern thing they do have, though, is TV. On it they primarily see metropolitan Bangkok (or in China's case, they'd see Beijing and Shanghai) and almost exclusively upper-middle-class people in the TV shows. So rural people flock to the cities and will take any job that they can find, because even the worst job (and a factory job - especially a high-tech factory like at Foxconn - is miles above the worst jobs there are in Asian cities) is better than the shithole town they're from.
LoL "Good Job" (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, you implied that work is scarce in China. Which it is not. Good jobs are scarce. And in China, a Foxconn factory position _is a good job_.
What you mean to say is "other jobs are worse".
This does not make it a good job. To properly godwin this thread, Stalin was better then Hitler, but that does not make Soviet Russia a good place to live.
I take it you're a nice, comfortable American who's never really ventured outside their own country. You have a nice house, multiple cars, all your idevices so forth and so on. You dont really need for much do you.
This is not the case in China, The average Chinese person doesn't have multiple cars, they dont even have a car, they'd be lucky to have an old motorbike. A lot of villages dont even have 24 hour power in their homes. This is where your Foxconn workers come from. They have the choice between being a farmer or being a factory worker and the factory worker is not a subsistence job (I.E. it pays). Now the Chinese worker can buy things, namely things for their family being no old age pension in China and it's hard to save up a retirement fund when you have been a subsistence farmer all your life.
So stop deluding yourself that a factory job is a good job, it's a job that pays better then their other options. Being better by default does not make it good.
Now that I've made that point, The reason that people are lining up for Foxconn jobs is because they went back to their ville's and families for Chinese New Year. They dont get paid annual leave in China, so in order to do this they quit before Chinese New Year and now come back and get another job after CNY. So the article is a complete and fallacious troll and a belated Gong Xi to Parent.