Apple manufacturer Foxconn employee’s suicide attempts continued to make headlines in China over the past 2 days. Foxconn is an Apple device manufacturer in Shenzhen, a special economic zone just north of Hong Kong. The most recent Foxconn employee jumped to his death at around 11 pm on May 26, and the Information Office of Shenzhen Municipality issued a press release stating that another Foxconn employee has committed suicide by slitting his wrists.
Foxconn employees’ suicide attempts have been highly publicized and criticized by the Chinese media. Lin Baohua, a political commentator from China who currently resides in Taiwan, suspects political intervention behind the scenes to smear Foxconn’s image.
The state-run media have remained silent about the recent frequent school-killing incidents in China, yet have been active in reporting new suicide attempts by Foxconn employees. Lin therefore suspected that the regime is trying to divert people’s attention and discontent to Taiwanese-owned business, just like it has blamed Hong Kong’s tycoon Richard Li for China’s escalating housing prices.
Still, the two incidents marked the 12th and 13th suicide attempts by Foxconn employees. To date, 10 have died and 3 were injured.
The victim of the 12th suicide attempt is a 23 years old man who was from Gansu Province. He became a Foxconn employee in June 2009, according to a report by China News Service. He jumped from a dormitory at Foxconn’s Longhua factory in Shenzhen.
The victim of the 13th suicide attempt slit his wrist also in a dormitory at Foxconn’s Longhua factory. His life was not in danger after he was sent to a hospital to receive treatment. The 25-year old has only been with Foxconn since March 15, according to the China News Service.
Foxconn employees’ suicide attempts have been highly publicized and criticized by the Chinese media. Lin Baohua, a political commentator from China who currently resides in Taiwan, suspects political intervention behind the scenes to smear Foxconn’s image.
The state-run media have remained silent about the recent frequent school-killing incidents in China, yet have been active in reporting new suicide attempts by Foxconn employees. Lin therefore suspected that the regime is trying to divert people’s attention and discontent to Taiwanese-owned business, just like it has blamed Hong Kong’s tycoon Richard Li for China’s escalating housing prices.
Still, the two incidents marked the 12th and 13th suicide attempts by Foxconn employees. To date, 10 have died and 3 were injured.
The victim of the 12th suicide attempt is a 23 years old man who was from Gansu Province. He became a Foxconn employee in June 2009, according to a report by China News Service. He jumped from a dormitory at Foxconn’s Longhua factory in Shenzhen.
The victim of the 13th suicide attempt slit his wrist also in a dormitory at Foxconn’s Longhua factory. His life was not in danger after he was sent to a hospital to receive treatment. The 25-year old has only been with Foxconn since March 15, according to the China News Service.
The death of the 12th victim came at an ironic time—only several hours after Foxconn Group President Terry Guo flew to Shenzhen to handle the crisis in person on May 26.
During his brief stop at the Longhua Factory in Shenzhen, Guo showed over 200 journalists around the factory. He expressed condolences for the deaths of his coworkers but stated that the previous suicide incidents were not the result of Foxconn’s poor management, citing expert analysis. He also pointed out that work-related stress is not to be blamed for the suicides as 9 of the 11 previous suicides were committed by people who who had only been with the company for less than 6 months.
Chinese media has also reported that Foxconn’s human resources department sent out a letter asking employees to sign an agreement to not commit suicide. But Guo denied that, stating that, “I will not allow them to send it. There’s no such thing.”
Although Guo said that most of the victims committed suicide due to personal problems, including one young lady with a troubled romantic relationship who resorted to jumping to her death in front of her mother, despite the company’s taking precautionary measures earlier. However, there’s controversy and speculation around the cause of certain employees’ multiple suicide attempts.
Taiwanese attorney Winifred Tung also raised doubts in a recent article published in New Epoch Weekly. She wondered whether some of the Foxconn employees suicides could have actually been foul play. Tung pointed out that the ninth employee who jumped of a building has been stabbed four times, and a knife was found at the scene where he jumped from. Accordingly, she questioned if all previous suicide attempts were indeed “suicide.”
But the most prevalent theory is modern China’s young generation do not know how to cope with stress and Foxconn management’s failing to offer employees help in this aspect.
Foxconn is one of the most sought-after companies by job seekers in Taiwan. It’s headquarters in Taiwan is famous for giving out generous bonus to employees and holding luxurious end of year annual gala. Last year, company employees got at least 5 to 7 month worth of bonus, according to Taiwan’s media.
Read the original Chinese article.
During his brief stop at the Longhua Factory in Shenzhen, Guo showed over 200 journalists around the factory. He expressed condolences for the deaths of his coworkers but stated that the previous suicide incidents were not the result of Foxconn’s poor management, citing expert analysis. He also pointed out that work-related stress is not to be blamed for the suicides as 9 of the 11 previous suicides were committed by people who who had only been with the company for less than 6 months.
Chinese media has also reported that Foxconn’s human resources department sent out a letter asking employees to sign an agreement to not commit suicide. But Guo denied that, stating that, “I will not allow them to send it. There’s no such thing.”
Although Guo said that most of the victims committed suicide due to personal problems, including one young lady with a troubled romantic relationship who resorted to jumping to her death in front of her mother, despite the company’s taking precautionary measures earlier. However, there’s controversy and speculation around the cause of certain employees’ multiple suicide attempts.
Taiwanese attorney Winifred Tung also raised doubts in a recent article published in New Epoch Weekly. She wondered whether some of the Foxconn employees suicides could have actually been foul play. Tung pointed out that the ninth employee who jumped of a building has been stabbed four times, and a knife was found at the scene where he jumped from. Accordingly, she questioned if all previous suicide attempts were indeed “suicide.”
But the most prevalent theory is modern China’s young generation do not know how to cope with stress and Foxconn management’s failing to offer employees help in this aspect.
Foxconn is one of the most sought-after companies by job seekers in Taiwan. It’s headquarters in Taiwan is famous for giving out generous bonus to employees and holding luxurious end of year annual gala. Last year, company employees got at least 5 to 7 month worth of bonus, according to Taiwan’s media.
Read the original Chinese article.
