So, yesterday I read that my fabulous iPad and iPhone had been built in China. Ok, that's nothing really new to me, as many things are made in China or the far east these days.
What appears to get some people's back up it that these 'luxury' items are made with huge profit margins.....ok is that not what business is all about?
Apparently no, these items, an many others I hasten to add are made very cheaply by kids who are working 12+ hour days in factories where the gates are manned by gun carrying guards.
Now, 'the Business Insider' (don't mock me, I sometimes read stuff like that!!) says that this is outrageous.
There is a distinct lack of employers actually giving a shit about their workforce.... Big massive note here - I may get on my high horse about the same being the case in the UK also. Anyhow, i am digressing way more than I should be on a blog written on my prized iPad.
Anyway the story goes that Foxconn is one of the companies that makes iPhones & iPads. They have a huge massive sized company that employs around 430,000 which is an awful lot of people, especially when you consider that the population of my home town is about 18,000. Around 4% of these workers are around 12 year old according to sources named by 'business insider'.
One of these workers maintains that a standard shift is 12 hours long, however it is more common for 14-16 hour says. Workers meantime stay in dormitories in a 12x12 room with about 15 beds. They use Hexane to clean the screens of iPhones which is a neuro-toxin, how lovely eh?
If you ask for payment for overtime you're so not likely to get any more money! No, you are much more likely to be out on a blacklist of troublemakers.
Though interestingly enough some people still maintain that this new style near slavery type of employment is still better than working on rice fields.
Im probably now, considered middle aged and can still remember stories of kids leaving school at 14 to start work. Stories of life down the pits and working in conditions that were not only dangerous but hazardous to your future health also.
Maybe production has moved to the far east because the western world has decided that they are unwilling to work in such conditions. Maybe moving work to the far east is saving jobs here in the western world. I say that because with the the relative price of these goods being so low, we as consumers would be unable to afford them if made in our countries.
Is, it wrong to complement foreign workers on their perfectionism, they are after all churning out quality goods and I for one can honestly say that my iPad and iPhone are some of the best products I own.
I remember long long ago when doing economics and sociology that the work ethic of the Chinese and Japanese was far superior than ours. Im going back to the old bit 'Protestant work ethic' etc. are we now too embarrassed to put in extra effort to our jobs?
Maybe the western world should have some new role models where we are encouraged to work harder, work smarter and move forward (think I'm maybe quoting some Toyota kaisen theories now). We seem too obsessed with what we get out of it now, what in it for us? Maybe peace of mind that when work ends you know you have done a good days work.
I'm not for one minute condoning the crappy treatment of employees, but large corporations should remember that their biggest asset is their workforce.
Here is a clip from Daily Show host Jon Stewart on Foxconn:
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: 'Fear Factory'
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