14 DAY TRIAL // Of the many companies that have lately gotten a significant bit of attention on the part of the press, Foxconn can be seen as having had one of, if not the roughest time of all. This is because its plant in Shenzen, China, has seen a fairly long string of tragedies, mostly suicide, this year. The number reached 13 on August 4, when a woman fell to her death much in the same way as all the other previous employees. This has begun to affect the company's hiring process in China, now that it has changed its hiring procedure.
It cannot be disputed that Foxconn already took measures against future suicides. For one, it built safety nets at each building's second and third floor level and raised the height of the safety fence on the roof from 2 meters to 3 meters. The manufacturer also created a network through its care groups and mental health centers, meant to assist those with mental and emotional difficulties. Unfortunately, as was made bluntly clear just two days ago, this much has not been enough to stem the tide completely.
Foxconn has already announced that it is collaborating with the local police in their investigation, and will also assist the employee's family in funeral affairs. What's more, Foxconn changed the way it hires workers at Foxconn's Wuhan plant. Apparently, the manufacturer will only accept applicants with “mature mental state” and has set up certain exams meant to test this. This may, on the other hand, impact negatively upon its goal of hiring 15.000 people by the end of the year.
As some may remember, labor rights activists have blamed alleged tough working conditions, though Apple and others of Foxconn's clients investigated the matter and said that this is not the case. What remains to be seen is whether or not the deaths count continues to rise.