WHY WORK FOR APPLE COMPANY SERIES
Li and Xu made a statement, in their case study about the business's suicides, that, "Foxconn's series of employee suicides were severe events in the mind of the general public, and its 'no comment' strategy led to a more negative perception of its reputation and severe consequences." After the sixth suicide, Liu Kun, a spokesperson for Foxconn, stated that they were handling the crisis. Foxconn left their crisis situation vulnerable to media attacks by taking a "no comment" approach, which allowed the media to fill in their own information about the suicides. Crisis management ĭuring the first two and a half months, which included six of the fourteen deaths from suicide, Foxconn took a "no comment" approach to their business crisis.
Additionally, long working hours, discrimination of mainland Chinese workers by their Taiwanese coworkers, and a lack of working relationships were all presented as potential problems in the university report.Ī 2012 audit of Foxconn performed by the Fair Labor Association, at the request of Apple Inc., suggested that workplace accidents might be commonplace and that workers may consider overtime pay insufficient.
The report also criticized Foxconn's management style, which it called inhumane and abusive. The 2010 suicides prompted 20 Chinese universities to compile an 83-page report on Foxconn, which they described as a " labor camp." Interviews of 1,800 Foxconn workers at 12 factories found evidence of illegal overtime and failure to report accidents. (Workers as young as 14 could legally work in China through special programs around the time this report was compiled.) Īpple committed to the implementation of changes following the suicides, but in late 2014 news reports of labor issues at another factory of a Chinese supplier also surfaced. Foxconn was not specifically named in the report, but Apple suggested poor treatment of workers in facilities that manufacture its products may include violations of labor laws, violations of Apple's own rules for suppliers, and child labor. A team from Apple is independently evaluating the steps they are taking to address these tragic events, and we will continue our ongoing inspections of the facilities where our products are made." The statement was released after the results from the company's probe into its suppliers' labor practices were published in early 2010. Response Foxconn clients Īpple issued a public statement about the suicides, and company spokesperson Steven Dowling said: " saddened and upset by the recent suicides at Foxconn. 2013 English nameĮva Dou of The Wall Street Journal reported the suicide of a 31-year-old night shift worker at Foxconn's production building in Zhengzhou on 18 August 2016. Īdditionally, 150 Chinese workers threatened suicide in protest on 2 January 2012. Threw himself from building at Shenzhen plant. Died in Deyuan town, Chengdu (possibly in Pi County) Jumped from building after being sent to a psychiatric hospital Threw himself from the sixth floor of a dormitory building Prior to death, he claimed he was beaten and his residence searched by Foxconn employees. Threw himself from an apartment building after losing an iPhone prototype in his possession. While 2010 was a notable year for the company in numbers of suicides, preceding years saw suicides being reported as well. Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook.Events of suicide Pre-2010 "If you keep them excited to come into work," he says, "it will bring tremendous growth and revenue." He says that his team at Adobe has had a 40 percent growth rate because the "younger generation is excited about learning and enjoy feeling like they have an impact." A majority of millennials, 65 percent, say they'd rather work for an organization whose mission they believe in than a company that pays a lot.Ĭohen points to Silicon Valley's to President Trump's transgender military ban as well as the as examples of progressive thought in the tech space.ĭietrich doubles down on the importance of young professionals feeling that they are adding value to a company. Working in tech allows them to be on the cutting-edge of society and see their ideas come to fruition.Īlong the same lines, millennials are more likely to seek out companies with progressive management. Finally, millennials care about being challenged, impacting society and making a difference in the world, says Cohen.