9th death at Taiwanese maker of iPhones

[Da Ji]

9th death at Taiwanese maker of iPhones

The China Post,ANN | Photo: Reuters | 23-05-10

The latest victim, logistics worker Nan Gang, 21, leapt from a four-story factory building and landed on his head.

GUANGZHOU, BEIJING - A worker at Foxconn Technology Group, which makes iPhones and iPads, jumped to his death Friday from a building in the southern Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen — the ninth suicide this year at the world's largest contract maker of electronics, state-run media reported.

The latest victim, logistics worker Nan Gang, 21, leapt from a four-story factory building about a half hour after finishing his shift at 4 a.m., reported the Xinhua News Agency, quoting a city police spokesman, Huang Jianwei.

Nan, a migrant from central Hubei province, landed on his head and died at the scene, Xinhua said, without providing further details. A total of 11 Foxconn workers have jumped off buildings this year, and two of them survived. Also Friday, Xinhua said that another worker, Rong Bo, leapt off a building and killed himself on Jan. 8 at a Foxconn plant in the northern city of Langfang in Hebei province.

His death went unreported until Friday when it was finally confirmed by officials after relatives reported it to the media, Xinhua said. The deaths have raised more questions about working conditions at Foxconn's massive complex, which labor activists allege has a long history of mistreatment of workers. They claim workers — which total about 300,000 — are pushed hard, toil under tremendous pressure and face harsh discipline for making mistakes.

There was no immediate comment about Friday's death from Foxconn, owned by Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. The corporate behemoth has also produced computers for Hewlett-Packard Co., PlayStation game consoles for Sony Corp. and mobile phones for Nokia Corp. After a suicide earlier this month, Foxconn said its workers enjoyed world-class treatment.

Company spokesman Arthur Huang said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Foxconn carried out social responsibility programs to ensure the welfare of its employees. Recent suicides include a 24-year-old male factory worker surnamed Lu who jumped from a building inside the factory complex earlier this month.

The highest-profile death happened last July when Sun Danyong, 25, jumped to his death after being interrogated over a missing iPhone prototype. Sun was responsible for sending the device to U.S.-based Apple Inc. Local police said they were taking the case seriously and had sent a team to look into the death. Shenzhen's police chief was already leading an investigation into previous falls, the official China News Service said.

The high reported toll may be due as much to public interest in Foxconn, and a larger flow of information from workers with mobile phones and Internet access, as to a rise in suicide rates at the firm, said a Shenzhen-based expert in labour issues. “In some isolated companies, you will never know what's happening there,” said Liu Kaiming, the head of the Institute of Contemporary Observation, a Shenzhen think-tank.

But analysts warned that reports of deaths at the firm, already a target of criticism by labour groups over its working conditions, could make its overseas clients uncomfortable. “Nobody wants to buy a product that is associated with a facility at which people kill themselves,” said Edward Yu, head of Beijing-based technology research firm Analysys International.

“This is a public relations problem...If they can't handle it appropriately, that will test some of the long-term relationships with the brands, like Apple and Sony,” he added. Campaign group China Labor Watch this week called for an overhaul of conditions for Foxconn's production line workers, after an investigation prompted by a previous death.

It recorded working days up to 12 hours and production line employees sometimes going for weeks without a day off. “We are extremely tired, with tremendous pressure,” it quoted workers in a computer assembly department as saying. Many attributed recent deaths to the stress they are all under, the report said.

Walled Cities

Foxconn, a unit of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, runs massive manufacturing complexes where workers churn out products for the world's leading computer and phone companies in round-the-clock shifts. Of 800,000 employees in China, 420,000 are based in Shenzhen, Xinhua said last week. Most are under 30.

Shenzhen analyst Liu said life in the company's factories can be lonely and it had a high turnover, with nearly half the staff quitting every year. “To work in a big company, (with a campus) as large as a medium-sized city, they need the feeling of a family to handle the severe working pressure,” Liu added. “The company cannot make these young people be just money-making machines.”

 

[SwineHunter]

Foxconn denies death link


May 24, 2010
Foxconn denies death link

<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> TAIPEI - THE founder of Taiwan's Foxconn Group on Monday broke his silence over a string of suicides by its employees in China, denying the deaths were related to conditions at the technology giant's factories. 'I want to say that we're not running blood and sweat factories,' Terry Gou said in the wake of state media reports in China that nine Foxconn workers had seemingly jumped to their deaths since the start of the year. Foxconn, known in Taiwan by the name of its parent Hon Hai Precision, is the world's largest maker of computer components. It also makes iPhones for Apple.

The deaths have highlighted concerns about the difficult conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially those at Foxconn, where labour activists say long hours, minimal pay and significant pressure are the norm. 'You know, Hon Hai has more than 800,000 workers worldwide, and it's not easy to manage such a large team,' Mr Gou replied when asked to comment on the suicides. Mr Gou, who was attending an event in Taipei to welcome a Chinese procurement delegation, added: 'I'm confident things will become stabilised soon.'

He did not say what measures had been taken, but the company said on May 17 that it had hired Buddhist monks and 100 counsellors for its workers at plants in China, as well as setting up hotlines to provide emotional support. Despite the measures, only days later a 21-year-old employee jumped to his death in southern China, state media there said. According to the China Labour Bulletin (CLB), a workers' rights group based in Hong Kong, the Foxconn suicides underline the pressure faced by young workers in China who must labour for long hours far away from their families. -- AFP

 

[M.Bison]

Another Foxconn employee dies in China


Another Foxconn employee dies in China
Posted: 25 May 2010 1048 hrs
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BEIJING : A 19-year-old employee of Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn died Tuesday after falling from a building at the company's plant in southern China -- the 10th such death this year, state media reported. The deaths, which are apparent suicides, have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn, where labour activists say long hours, low pay and high pressure are the norm.

But the group's founder Terry Gou on Monday denied that Foxconn's employees were being worked too hard and driven to kill themselves, saying he was not running "blood and sweat factories". Foxconn, known in Taiwan by the name of its parent Hon Hai Precision, is the world's largest maker of computer components. It also makes iPhones for Apple.

China's state Xinhua news agency said it was not immediately known whether the latest Foxconn fatality -- the second in less than a week -- was a man or a woman. It was the ninth death at Foxconn's Shenzhen facilities this year. Another company employee died at a plant in northern China in January, according to state media reports. Two more have suffered serious injuries in similar falls.

Officials at Foxconn -- whose clients include Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard -- did not have an immediate comment on the report. Gou said Monday he was "confident things will become stabilised soon." The company employs 800,000 people worldwide, with more than 300,000 in Shenzhen, a special economic zone on the border with Hong Kong.

In July, a Foxconn worker committed suicide when the company held an inquiry into the disappearance of an iPhone prototype, for which the employee had been considered responsible. Foxconn has hired Buddhist monks and psychological counselors for its workers in China. - AFP/jy

 

[chobolan]

Apple watching Foxconn


May 26, 2010
Apple watching Foxconn

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The deaths have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn, where labour activists say long hours, low pay and high psychological pressure are the norm. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

HONG KONG - APPLE said on Wednesday it was evaluating steps by Foxconn, manufacturer of many of its products including the iPhone, to prevent further suicides at an assembly plant in southern China. Apple, which is preparing to launch its iPad computer tablet in countries outside the United States on Friday, said it was committed to making sure workers in its supply chain were safe and treated with respect.

A 19-year-old employee fell to his death at Foxconn's Shenzhen factory on Tuesday - the ninth apparent suicide at the enormous site this year.
'We are saddened and upset by the recent suicides at Foxconn,' an Apple spokeswoman told AFP by email. 'Apple is deeply committed to ensuring that conditions throughout our supply chain are safe and workers are treated with respect and dignity,' she said.

'We are in direct contact with Foxconn senior management and we believe they are taking this matter very seriously. A team from Apple is independently evaluating the steps they are taking to address these tragic events and we will continue our ongoing inspections of the facilities where our products are made.' Apple refused to confirm if the new iPad was being made at the plant. Foxconn, a Taiwanese company, also boasts Dell and Hewlett-Packard among its clients.

The deaths have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn, where labour activists say long hours, low pay and high psychological pressure are the norm. Incensed by the suicides, labour activists in Hong Kong are calling for a global boycott of the next generation of the iPhone, which Apple is expected to unveil next month. -- AFP

 

[chobolan]

Hon Hai in damage control


May 26, 2010
Hon Hai in damage control

<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> LONGHUA (China) - DRESSED in white, the traditional colour of mourning in China, the father of 19-year-old Ma Xiangqian weeps outside the gates of a sprawling electronics complex. His wife and daughter kneel alongside. Ma is one of nine workers who have died in apparent suicides at tightly guarded factory complexes this year, raising questions about the harsher aspects of blue-collar life around southern China's Pearl River Delta - dubbed the workshop to the world.

The parents say Ma, who was found dead at the bottom of a stairway at the campus in January, died under mysterious circumstances. They want to know why. 'All we want to know is the truth. We don't even want compensation,' said the father. The Longhua factory belongs to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, the Taiwan giant that is contracted to make electronics for Apple Inc and most major PC brands.

Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou, one of Taiwan's best known businessmen, on Wednesday led reporters on a rare media tour of the Chinese plant, part of an unprecedented publicity blitz to counter a growing backlash over the suicides. 'You can see we've got these facilities for workers who want to relax,' Mr Gou said, standing by an Olympic-size swimming pool in the vast Longhua complex, which has tree-lined avenues, post offices, banks and bakeries catering to many of around 400,000 workers it employs in southern China. This is not a place that treats its workers badly,' added Mr Gou, who is known for guarding his privacy jealously. -- REUTERS

 

[lauhumku]

11th Foxconn staff dies


May 27, 2010
11th Foxconn staff dies

<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> BEIJING - ANOTHER employee of Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn fell to his death on Wednesday at the company's plant in southern China - the 11th such death this year, state media reported. The apparent suicides have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Apple manufacturer Foxconn, where labour activists say long hours, low pay and high pressure are the norm.

The official Xinhua news agency provided no further details on the latest death, which came just hours after the firm reportedly urged its workers in southern China to promise in writing not to kill themselves as it battles to stem a spate of factory suicides. -- AFP

 

[lauhumku]

Foxconn ups anti-suicide drive


May 27, 2010
Foxconn ups anti-suicide drive

SHENZHEN (China) - APPLE manufacturer Foxconn on Wednesday urged workers to sign contracts promising not to kill themselves to stem a spate of suicides - hours before the 11th worker this year fell to his death. The apparent suicides have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn's southern Chinese plant, where activists say long hours, low pay and high pressure are the norm.

The official Xinhua news agency, quoting a witness, said the latest victim at the firm's giant Shenzhen plant fell to his death around 11.20pm (1520 GMT. 11.20pm Singapore time), adding that Foxconn had confirmed the death. Hours earlier Foxconn's Taiwanese parent company had apologised publicly for the suicides. 'I give my apologies for the impact this has had on society,' said Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn's Taiwanese parent company Hon Hai Precision, after flying into Shenzhen aboard his private jet for a hastily arranged media tour.

'I will do all I can to save lives.' But he defended the company's labour practices and speculated that some of the suicides may have been linked to personal or relationship problems. Foxconn employees must now agree to go to psychiatric institutions for their own protection if their mental health turns 'abnormal', according to reports. And the company was said to be hanging safety nets around buildings at its vast factory in Shenzhen after a 19-year-old worker fell to his death on Tuesday. Wednesday's death brings the toll of apparent suicides at the huge Shenzhen site this year to ten, with another death reported at a plant in northern China. -- AFP

 

[M.Bison]

More Foxconn Suicides: Reports of 14, 15, & 16th Jumpings


More Foxconn Suicides: Reports of 14, 15, & 16th Jumpings

by Fauna on Thursday, May 27, 2010
From Baidu Tieba:
Foxconn’s 15th suicide jumper has jumped, 16th is currently on the roof

The Foxconn Longhua C4 Building double-suicide [jumping from building] is already spreading on the internet: Foxconn #14 and #15 jump, new entry, Sina Weibo [Microblog, like Twitter], latest shocking news, around 12, Foxconn Longhua C4 Building, double-suicide, scene too horrible to look at, scene sealed off. Those are the details, still need confirmation.

Foxconn’s 15th consecutive jumping has already frightened the media at the scene, with some journalists/reporters already intending to no longer follow the story. Just what exactly is the cause, being cursed or infected by pressure? Some reporters suspect Foxconn having given the families of suicide victims 400,000 [RMB] plus a 30,000 [RMB] yearly pension to the parents have led to these poverty-stricken workers to copy each other willing to use their deaths to exchange financial security for their families. This view is indeed cold-blooded, but if it is true then that is our entire society’s responsibility and tragedy. If their deaths are for the compensation, then it should be treated differently.

Foxconn latest news: 16th possible suicide jumper has climbed onto the C3 Building. [See picture]

 

[M.Bison]

Foxconn Suicides Continue:
PHOTOS Inside The iPhone Factory Plagued By Deaths

Huffington Post | Bianca Bosker

The Foxconn Technology Group's factory in southern China has been plagued by suicides in recent months. A young man who jumped to his death late Wednesday became the 10th person at the Shenzhen factor--and the 11th Foxconn worker--to commit suicide this year. His death came just after Foxconn's chairman led a media tour of the factory.

The Chinese factory is one of Apple's "main manufacturer contractors," and in addition to churning out iPods, iPhones, and iPads, the factory also supplies Intel, Dell, Sony, Nokia, and HP, among other firms. The Associated Press writes of Foxconn's labor practices: "Labor activists have long said that Foxconn's problem was a rigid management style on factory floors, where the assembly line moved too fast and workers were forced to log too much overtime. Foxconn has repeatedly denied the allegations."

The company plans to institute new measures it hopes will prevent additional employee deaths. In addition to installing safety nets on Foxconn buildings, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou said more counselors would be hired, and explained that "employees were being divided up into 50-member groups, whose members would watch for signs of emotional trouble within their group." The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that the factory had also asked their employees to sign a "no suicide" pledge."

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Company staff members stand at the balconies of residential house at the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Southern city in China, Wednesday, May 26, 2010.(AP Caption)
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Staff members work on the production line at the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Southern city in China, Wednesday, May 26, 2010. The head of the giant electronics company whose main facility in China has been battered by a string of worker suicides opened the plant's gates to scores of reporters Wednesday, hours after saying that intense media attention could make the situation worse. (AP caption)
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Staff members work on the production line at the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Southern city in China. (AP Caption)
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Staff members work on the production line at the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Southern city in China. (AP Caption)
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[lauhumku]

Undercover team reveals working conditions at China factory


May 30, 2010

Life at Foxconn
Undercover team reveals working conditions at China factory

<!-- by line --> By Connie Er
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Between 300,000 and 400,000 employees eat, work and sleep at Foxconn's plant, in Longhua Town, which some have labelled the IT Forbidden City due to its water-tight security. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

<!-- story content : start --> THEY work, some on their feet throughout, up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, assembling products that most cannot afford to buy themselves: Apple iPhones, Apple iPads, Dell computers and Nokia mobile phones. They are not allowed to talk while working and could be fined for doing so. These are some of the conditions workers at Foxconn have to endure, according to an undercover team of seven Chinese who infiltrated the Longhua plant in southern China's Shenzhen boomtown two weeks ago, The Telegraph reported.

'Hundreds of people work in the workshops, but they are not allowed to talk to one another. If you talk, you get a black mark in your record and you get shouted at by your manager. You can also be fined,' investigator Zhu Guangbing, who organised the undercover operation, told London's The Telegraph. His team included netizen volunteers and four Foxconn workers. Between 300,000 and 400,000 employees eat, work and sleep at Foxconn's plant, in Longhua Town, which some have labelled the IT Forbidden City due to its water-tight security.

'In the past three months, the factory has been losing 50,000 staff a month because workers are burning out,' Mr Zhu, a migrant worker and a workplace rights advocate, said. 'The workers are reduced to repeating exactly the same hand movement for months on end.'

Read the full story in The Sunday Times.
[email protected]

 

[Guile]

HK protestors push for iphone boycott

HK protestors push for iphone boycott
A group of two dozen protested outside the Hong Kong office of Taiwan-based Foxconn.
AFP | Photo: AFP

HONG KONG - Hong Kong labour activists said Tuesday they plan to kick off a worldwide boycott of Apple's newest iPhone after a spate of suicides at a southern Chinese factory that makes the iconic device. A group of two dozen protested outside the Hong Kong office of Taiwan-based Foxconn, calling on the technology giant to improve working conditions at its giant plant across the border in the city of Shenzhen.

The group said Foxconn - a manufacturer for Apple and other electronics giants - should probe the suicides, which have reached 10 since the start of the year after a 19-year-old employee fell to his death at the factory Tuesday. "The reason we're staging the protest is the high death rate due to some workers committing suicide within five months, which we think is abnormal," Debby Chan, spokeswoman for Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour, told AFP.

"Foxconn should evaluate its management style.... We strongly urge Foxconn to start a committee to look into the reasons they died." The deaths, apparent suicides, have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn, where labour activists say long hours, low pay and high pressure are the norm. The death Tuesday was the ninth at Foxconn's Shenzhen facilities this year.

Witnesses said Li Hai, a 19 year-old man, jumped from the fifth floor of the training centre building, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
Police found a note left by Li, according to Xinhua, in which he told his father: "I have no capabilities. I have got what I deserve." Chen Hongfang, deputy director of Foxconn's labor union, said Li had only worked in the South China Training Centre in Foxconn's Guanlan plant for 42 days, the agency reported.

Another company employee died at a plant in northern China in January, according to state media reports. Two more have suffered serious injuries in similar falls. The group's founder Terry Gou on Monday denied that Foxconn's employees were being worked too hard and driven to kill themselves, saying he was not running "blood and sweat factories". Chan said interviews with about 30 Foxconn workers in recent days suggested that they "suffer from pressure but just learn to internalise it".

The planned boycott would likely kick off ahead of the new iPhone's release next month, Chan said, adding that the group was also targeting United Win Technology, another Taiwan-based Apple supplier with operations in China. Foxconn, known in Taiwan by the name of its parent Hon Hai Precision, is the world's largest maker of computer components.

 

[Da Ji]

Employee death at Foxconn


Jun 2, 2010
Employee death at Foxconn

<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> BEIJING - TAIWANESE technology giant Foxconn on Wednesday confirmed the death of another employee but denied he died of exhaustion following a spate of suicides at its Chinese plants. Yan Li, 27, died on Friday after working the night shift for more than a month at a Foxconn plant in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, China Labor Watch said, citing Yan's sister, and adding that he was killed by exhaustion.

'We have reviewed this matter and while we cannot speculate the specific cause of death, we have found nothing to support any allegation that it was work-related,' a spokesman for Foxconn said in a statement. 'We have met with Mrs Yan and expressed our condolences and as a compassionate gesture have provided a level of support to assist her at this very difficult time.'

Foxconn, which makes a range of top-selling products including Apple iPhones, Dell computers and Nokia mobile phones, said earlier on Wednesday it was raising the pay of its Chinese assembly line workers by 30 per cent. Ten workers at the giant Foxconn plant in Shenzhen have fallen to their deaths in apparent suicides this year. An 11th worker died at another factory in northern China. The deaths have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn, where the activists say long hours, low pay and high pressure are the norm. -- AFP

 

[Da Ji]

Foxconn wages to rise 30%


Jun 2, 2010
Foxconn wages to rise 30%

<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S Hon Hai Precision Industry plans to raise workers' salaries by 30 per cent at its Foxconn manufacturing hub in southern China, more than originally planned, a spokesman said, following a string of apparent suicides there. Taipei-based Hon Hai spokesman Arthur Huang said on Wednesday the increases will take effect immediately. The company's shares fell 2 per cent as it moved to quell a storm of bad publicity over the deaths.Hon Hai said with the higher wage increase it wanted to reflect rising prices in the mainland, and also hoped to earn the respect of workers and raise efficiency.

'Raising salaries will impact Hon Hai's costs, pressuring their ability to make a profit,' said Tom Tang, vice-president at Masterlink Investment Authority in Taipei. He added, however, that it was also a way to impress foreign investors. The company, maker of Apple Inc's iPhone among other top-brand electronic products, had said last week that it had planned for some time to raise wages for Foxconn workers by 20 per cent. A total of 10 workers have died at the company's sprawling production base in southern China this year, all apparently suicides. The company has faced mounting public anger and questions from its major clients, including Apple. -- REUTERS

 

[lauhumku]

Foxconn death not work related


Jun 4, 2010
Foxconn death not work related

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The company announced on Wednesday a 30 per cent pay raise for workers to help create a better working environment where employees can reduce overtime work and have more time for leisure. -- PHOTO: AFP

<!-- story content : start --> TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S Foxconn Technology Group, which has been shaken by a spate of worker suicides in China this year, said on Friday another employee had died but denied it was work-related. The maker of iPhones, iPads and other electronic gadgets for global corporations including Apple Inc said the 28-year-old engineer died 'a sudden death' last week at his home near Foxconn's Shenzhen plant in China's southern Guangdong province.

The cause of the death was being investigated and 'we have found nothing to support any allegation that it was work-related,' the company said in a statement. Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper reported on Wednesday that relatives claimed the engineer died of work stress, having worked 34 hours without a break shortly before his collapse.

The company announced on Wednesday a 30 per cent pay raise for workers to help create a better working environment where employees can reduce overtime work and have more time for leisure. Labour activists accuse the company of having a rigid management style, an excessively fast assembly line and forced overwork, allegations that Foxconn denies. Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou has promised to work harder to prevent more deaths. -- AP

 

[Yukimura Sanada]

Another Foxconn pay raise


Jun 6, 2010
Another Foxconn pay raise

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Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group said salaries would be raised in October to 2,000 yuan (S$413) for workers at its plant in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Workers elsewhere in China will get raises in July adjusted for local conditions, the statement said. -- PHOTO: AFP

TAIPEI - FOXCONN workers in China will get another pay raise in coming months, on top of an increase that just took effect in response to recent worker suicides, the company said on Sunday. Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group said salaries would be raised in October to 2,000 yuan (S$413) for workers at its plant in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Workers elsewhere in China will get raises in July adjusted for local conditions, the statement said.

Less than a week ago, the maker of iPads, iPhones and other electronic gadgets for international companies had raised workers' pay by 30 per cent at its plants across China. The basic salary at Foxconn's China plants was about 900 yuan per month before the 30 per cent raise, and new recruits are paid 1,200 yuan per month. 'This wage increase has been instituted to safeguard the dignity of workers,' said Foxconn chairman Terry Gou in the statement.

'We are working diligently to ensure that our workplace standards and remuneration not only continue to meet the rapidly changing needs of our employees, but they are best-in-class.' The company added workers in Shenzhen have to pass a three-month review period before they qualify for the October raise. It did not elaborate. Foxconn employs 300,000 in Shenzhen.

Labour activists accuse the company of having a rigid management style, an excessively fast assembly line and forced overwork. Foxconn denies the allegations, but it has been under great public pressure to improve conditions at its Chinese operations. Ten workers have killed themselves and three have attempted suicide at Foxconn's operations in southern China this year, mainly workers who jumped from buildings. -- AP

 

[Cao Pi]

Foxconn will upgrade dorms


Jun 27, 2010
Foxconn will upgrade dorms

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Foxconn, has signed an agreement with two property management companies to take over the running of on-site housing for 450,000 workers in China's southern city of Shenzhen. -- PHOTO: AP

<!-- story content : start --> TAIPEI - FOXCONN is to upgrade the factory dormitories which house thousands of migrant workers in China as part of the IT giant's efforts to stop a spate of suicides, company officials said on Sunday. Foxconn, which assembles Apple's iPhone, has signed an agreement with two property management companies to take over the running of on-site housing for 450,000 workers in China's southern city of Shenzhen.

The dormitories will be in a more open lay-out than before, said officials at Hon Hai Precision, the Taiwanese parent of Foxconn, rather than the existing 'college campus-style' model. The new arrangement was to keep in tune with 'new realities in China", officials said, without providing firm details.

'Providing employees with basic necessities... might have been sufficient in the past, but this arrangement no longer satisfies the needs of the young migrant workers of today,' Terry Cheng, Foxconn Corporate executive vice-president, was quoted as saying during an agreement signing ceremony. He added that 'companies, government and communities need to work together to expand support networks so that employees have a stronger sense of belonging and can better integrate into the community'.

Foxconn announced early this month salary increases after 11 Chinese employees apparently committed suicide by jumping from buildings this year, including 10 in Shenzhen. Labour rights activists have blamed the suicides on tough working conditions at Foxconn, the world's largest maker of computer components and a supplier to leading brands such as Dell and Nokia. -- AFP