![]() Foxconn Longhua was so massive that it could be its own nation-state, and the suicide rate was comparable to its host country’s. Critics pounced on the comment as callous, though he wasn’t technically wrong. Steve Jobs, for his part, declared: “We’re all over that” when asked about the spate of deaths and he pointed out that the rate of suicides at Foxconn was within the national average. The company hired counsellors and workers were made to sign pledges stating they would not attempt to kill themselves. The corporate response spurred further unease: Foxconn CEO, Terry Gou, had large nets installed outside many of the buildings to catch falling bodies. Suicide notes and survivors told of immense stress, long workdays and harsh managers who were prone to humiliate workers for mistakes, of unfair fines and unkept promises of benefits. The epidemic caused a media sensation – suicides and sweatshop conditions in the House of iPhone. Twenty more workers were talked down by Foxconn officials. ![]() There were 18 reported suicide attempts that year alone and 14 confirmed deaths. Worker after worker threw themselves off the towering dorm buildings, sometimes in broad daylight, in tragic displays of desperation – and in protest at the work conditions inside. In 2010, Longhua assembly-line workers began killing themselves. If you know of Foxconn, there’s a good chance it’s because you’ve heard of the suicides. Today, that number is believed to be smaller, but it remains one of the biggest such operations in the world. ![]() The sprawling factory was once home to an estimated 450,000 workers. Today, the iPhone is made at a number of different factories around China, but for years, as it became the bestselling product in the world, it was largely assembled at Foxconn’s 1.4 square-mile flagship plant, just outside Shenzhen. As many people work for Foxconn as live in Estonia.Īn employee directs jobseekers to queue up at the Foxconn recruitment centre in Shenzhen. Worldwide, among corporations, only Walmart and McDonald’s employ more. And since the first iPhone shipped, the company doing the lion’s share of the manufacturing is the Taiwanese Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, Ltd, better known by its trade name, Foxconn.įoxconn is the single largest employer in mainland China there are 1.3 million people on its payroll. The country’s vast, unprecedented production capabilities – the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that as of 2009 there were 99 million factory workers in China – have helped the nation become the world’s second largest economy. The vast majority of plants that produce the iPhone’s component parts and carry out the device’s final assembly are based here, in the People’s Republic, where low labour costs and a massive, highly skilled workforce have made the nation the ideal place to manufacture iPhones (and just about every other gadget). US law dictates that products manufactured in China must be labelled as such and Apple’s inclusion of the phrase renders the statement uniquely illustrative of one of the planet’s starkest economic divides – the cutting edge is conceived and designed in Silicon Valley, but it is assembled by hand in China. ![]() It’s printed on the back of every iPhone: “Designed by Apple in California Assembled in China”. Thanks to a simple twist of fate and some clever perseverance by my fixer, I’d found myself deep inside so-called Foxconn City. Offenders will be sent to police for prosecution!” – are more aggressive than those outside many Chinese military compounds.īut it turns out that there’s a secret way into the heart of the infamous operation: use the bathroom. The warning signs outside – “This factory area is legally established with state approval. A Reuters journalist was once dragged out of a car and beaten for taking photos from outside the factory walls. Employees can’t get in without swiping an ID card drivers entering with delivery trucks are subject to fingerprint scans. Security guards man each of the entry points. It might be the best-known factory in the world it might also might be among the most secretive and sealed-off. Foxconn’s enormous Longhua plant is a major manufacturer of Apple products. The sprawling factory compound, all grey dormitories and weather-beaten warehouses, blends seamlessly into the outskirts of the Shenzhen megalopolis.
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