Quote:
Originally Posted by HansTWN
I have visited perhaps a 1000 factories in China over more than 20 years. Not Foxconn or other electronics companies, but factories producing other items.
I must say that those reports are way overblown. Workers have to work hard, but they are paid very well by local standards and minimum working hours are being implemented (the customers of the factories check that very thoroughly, as well as safety standards and general working conditions).
Workers in China have their pick of places to work at these days, so treating them well and paying well is a necessity. The workers have come a long long way very quickly. If one factory works people too hard or don't pay enough they just go next door, where they will be welcomed with open arms.
The only factories that still do mistreat workers are small, locally owned and locally run, selling extremely cheap products (we are talking those 75 $ Android tablets and $5 shoes here). If you want to make good products you need good workers who stay at your company. And that means good pay and a good working environment.
Of course, these are factories, you can't goof off at an assembly line. But the workers choose to go to Foxconn, they could easily go to work at many other places. That alone proves that they don't feel mistreated.
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I bow to you wider "on-the-ground" knowledge. I merely note that Foxconn is undergoing a massive effort to automate its assembly lines. That is going to be the real "job killer", and it's steadily increasing even in the low wage countries. The days of using an "endless source of cheap labor" for assembly are limited...
This has its own human disasters coming...