In recent weeks, Apple has been subjected to a media attack due to the working conditions of Foxconn employees who assemble iDevices. Apple was accused of not caring about the suffering of its employees, Tim Cook defended the "honor" of the company and finally it seems that Foxconn increases again the salaries of their own employees. The increase will be between 16 and 25% and it is just one of a long series of wage increases aimed at appeasing its employees. Last year at Foxconn there was a wave of suicides that was finally stopped with a salary increase and the placement of nets in front of the blocks where Foxconn employees live.
As Apple has faced criticism for its alliance with manufacturing partner Foxconn, the device assembler announced on Friday that it has raised the wages of its workers by 16 to 25 percent. The pay of a junior-level worker at its Shenzhen plant in China grew to 1,800 yuan per month, and could even go beyond 2,200 yuan if the worker passes a technical examination. That's significantly up from the pay of 900 yuan from three years ago.
In just three years, Foxconn increased the salaries of its employees by over 200% from 900 to 2200 yuan (approximately $350) and we are talking here about the salary of an employee who works on the product assembly line. Making a comparison with what we find in the company, the salaries seem to be better, but the working hours at Foxconn are longer and the stress that the management exerts near the launch of an iDevice is strong enough to push some of the employees to desperate gestures .
I believe that this gesture is just one of a much longer series of changes that will have the role of improving working conditions in China.
