Sad Working Conditions
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Joined: May 2006
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From: Calgary
I'm not sure when reporting the news required the reporting to choose a side.
REPORT THE NEWS TO ME AND I'LL FORM MY OPINION!
I hate that I have to seek multiple newspapers, websites, tv news networks, etc to get multiple perspectives. Don't give me perspectives, give me news WITHOUT a spin!
That Gizmodo article makes no mention of monetary equivalency, costs of living, or anything else that lets readers actually understand the situation. At least the WSJ article mentions that shared rent for a worker is less than $60/month, and she lives off-campus with her boyfriend.
All in all, it doesn't sound like the worst living ever. Maybe not the best quality of life, but quite frankly, the majority of North Americans have a crappy quality of life, by NA standards. Ever wonder how there are people that support a small family on a janitor's salary of $35k? People do it just fine and lead what they would refer to as fulfilling lives, because they value different things than you and I might.
In the same way that I see building a ship in a bottle as tedious, stressful, and not a hobby I'd like, other people have it as a relaxing way to unwind from their work.
If your values and sense of personal satisfaction come from working hard, contributing to a team and product output, then maybe it's not such a terrible life to spend it working at one of those factories, utilizing the various amenities of the compound/campus.
REPORT THE NEWS TO ME AND I'LL FORM MY OPINION!
I hate that I have to seek multiple newspapers, websites, tv news networks, etc to get multiple perspectives. Don't give me perspectives, give me news WITHOUT a spin!
That Gizmodo article makes no mention of monetary equivalency, costs of living, or anything else that lets readers actually understand the situation. At least the WSJ article mentions that shared rent for a worker is less than $60/month, and she lives off-campus with her boyfriend.
All in all, it doesn't sound like the worst living ever. Maybe not the best quality of life, but quite frankly, the majority of North Americans have a crappy quality of life, by NA standards. Ever wonder how there are people that support a small family on a janitor's salary of $35k? People do it just fine and lead what they would refer to as fulfilling lives, because they value different things than you and I might.
In the same way that I see building a ship in a bottle as tedious, stressful, and not a hobby I'd like, other people have it as a relaxing way to unwind from their work.
If your values and sense of personal satisfaction come from working hard, contributing to a team and product output, then maybe it's not such a terrible life to spend it working at one of those factories, utilizing the various amenities of the compound/campus.
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Joined: Feb 2005
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A lot of people don't understand how the world functions on a basic level. Can you hire 270,000 unskilled workers and pay them 30 grand a year? Even the 1500-2000$ a year they approximately get paid? Can you do it in a sustainable fashion? So many westerners act like these guys can go get a job at a gas station for 10$ an hour and these factory owners "force" them to work at factories instead. Working in a factory earning sustainable income with savings potential beats the hell out of what 400-600,000,000 chinese people are currently doing-living in absolute poverty out in the fields wondering where dinner is going to come from while living in shanty towns made out of tin structures.
I've been to some of these 'cities' where over half of the chinese population lives. The entire net worth of a family in these areas ranges 100-300 USD. You go tell them they shouldn't be allowed or given the opportunity to go in a probably climate controlled factory, actually wear decent clothes and shoes in their work environment, and assemble some ipads (oh the horror) because you* know what's good for them. What a joke. Try telling them you are going to boycott the products the factory makes to keep them from having to work there. Hope you have your running shoes on.
I've been to some of these 'cities' where over half of the chinese population lives. The entire net worth of a family in these areas ranges 100-300 USD. You go tell them they shouldn't be allowed or given the opportunity to go in a probably climate controlled factory, actually wear decent clothes and shoes in their work environment, and assemble some ipads (oh the horror) because you* know what's good for them. What a joke. Try telling them you are going to boycott the products the factory makes to keep them from having to work there. Hope you have your running shoes on.
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Joined: May 2006
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From: Calgary
I'm going to throw something out there for anyone who was so shocked by the suicide numbers at the campus.
This is the most recent info I could find, and chose Wyoming to compare against, since it has the population closest to that of claimed staff numbers by the Gizmodo article:
2005 Stats:
Wyoming Population: 509 294
http://www.whywyoming.org/demographics.aspx
Suicides in Wyoming: 90
http://www.suicide.org/suicide-statistics.html#2005
Percentage who killed themselves: 0.0177%
Foxconn (According to Gizmodo):
Company Employees: 400,000
Estimated Annual Suicides: (Well this is hard to know based on that article, so let's err on the high side; 7 in first half year with 9 attempts; 30 total attempts by 7th month = 24 in first 7 months = 42) 42 annually assuming the high numbers (exception) continue year-round
Percentage who killed themselves: 0.0105%
Wyoming has a higher suicide rate than that of Foxconn, which is acknowledged as operating compounds and campuses equivalent to modern cities, likely providing more amenities to the entire population than are made accessible to the entire population of Wyoming.
This is the most recent info I could find, and chose Wyoming to compare against, since it has the population closest to that of claimed staff numbers by the Gizmodo article:
2005 Stats:
Wyoming Population: 509 294
http://www.whywyoming.org/demographics.aspx
Suicides in Wyoming: 90
http://www.suicide.org/suicide-statistics.html#2005
Percentage who killed themselves: 0.0177%
Foxconn (According to Gizmodo):
Company Employees: 400,000
Estimated Annual Suicides: (Well this is hard to know based on that article, so let's err on the high side; 7 in first half year with 9 attempts; 30 total attempts by 7th month = 24 in first 7 months = 42) 42 annually assuming the high numbers (exception) continue year-round
Percentage who killed themselves: 0.0105%
Wyoming has a higher suicide rate than that of Foxconn, which is acknowledged as operating compounds and campuses equivalent to modern cities, likely providing more amenities to the entire population than are made accessible to the entire population of Wyoming.
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Joined: May 2006
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From: Calgary
^ May I also point out that within the company there would also be a 0% rate of unemployment, 0% homelessness, and I would venture to guess crime rates that are a fraction of Wyoming's in every category.
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From: Calgary
Originally Posted by dammitjim,May 20 2010, 09:40 AM
GD Wyoming sucks
But I stand by my point
I'm thinking of reporting and starting a "Save The Wyomingians" (Wyomingites?) fund. I'm going to hit up the Foxconn employees for a few bucks a piece first, as I'm sure they can understand the needs of worse-off people.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 15,323
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From: Longmont, CO
