Foxconn announces two pay rises after factory suicides

Factory

Workers at Foxconn International Holdings' Shenzhen plant, where 10 employees are believed to have committed suicide, have been given their second pay rise in a week.

Staff at the facility had their wages increased by 30 per cent earlier this month, but today Foxconn, which manufactures numerous devices including the Apple iPhone, has agreed to push pay up further.

Now, workers on the production lines in Shenzhen will be able to see their 1,200 Chinese yuan (122) a month wages go up to 2,000 yuan (203). However, they will need to complete a three-month work performance assessment before they can get an improved deal.

"The criteria for carrying out the work performance assessment [...] are still to be decided by the company," a statement from Foxconn read.

"The company is not in a position, at this stage, to determine with certainty the impact that the wage and salary adjustment described above would have on the group's financial results for the year ending 31 December 2010," it added.

In addition to the 10 suicides at the plant, a further three workers have reportedly tried to take their own lives.

According to China's Xinhua news agency, Foxconn had decided to install safety nets and has been training around 100 mental health counselors in a bid to control the situation.

The company's other clients outside of Apple include HP and Sony Ericsson. Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, recently said that he was "troubled" by the goings on at the Shenzhen facility, but insisted the plant is "not a sweatshop".

Tom Brewster

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.