Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Group 3
Cojutan, Diana
Dela Rama, Reigne
Manliquez, Marshey
Tablada, Mae
BSAIS-2B
January, 2022
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Introduction
Outsourcing has become a popular strategy for companies worldwide. As a strong
force in the global economy, it reshapes businesses. (Boguslauskas & Kvedaraviciene, 2009).
Under such a trend, various organizations decide to rely on external vendors in order to lower
costs, ensure higher quality and flexibility, and gain access to superior technical resources
(Antonucci, Lordi, & Trucker, 1998; Tafti, Sledgianowski, & Kierstead, 2008). Moreover, they
may gain a competitive advantage through a partnership by sharing information and knowledge
(Fish & Seydel, 2006).
The level of self-reported injury was over three times higher among outworkers
than factory-based workers undertaking similar tasks. The most significant factor explaining this
difference was the payment system. All outworkers were paid solely by the piece, whereas
factory workers were paid either under a time plus production bonus system or solely on a time
basis. While the incidence of injury was far higher among outworkers, factory-based workers
paid under an incentive system reported more injuries than those paid solely on a time basis.
Increasing injury was correlated with piecework payment systems.
I. Company Profile
Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, more commonly known by its trade name
Foxconn, was founded in Taipei in 1974. Foxconn is also the leading technological solution
provider and it continuously leverages its expertise in software and hardware to integrate its
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
unique manufacturing systems with emerging technologies. By capitalizing on its expertise in
Cloud Computing, Mobile Devices, IoT, Big Data, AI, Smart Networks, and Robotics /
Automation, the Group has expanded not only its capabilities into the development of electric
vehicles, digital health and robotics, but also three key technologies –AI, semiconductors and
new-generation communications technology – which are key to driving its long-term growth
strategy and the four core product pillars: Consumer Products, Enterprise Products, Computing
Products and Components and Others.
The company has established R&D and manufacturing centers in other markets
around the world that includes China, India, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Czech Republic, U.S.
and more. With a focus on research and development, the company owns more than 83,500
patents. In addition to maximizing value-creation for customers who include many of the world’s
leading technology companies, Foxconn is also dedicated to championing environmental
sustainability in the manufacturing process and serving as a best-practices model for global
enterprises.
1.1 Foxconn’s Operation
In 2001, Hon Hai became Taiwan’s largest private-sector company in terms ofsales,
generating revenue of US$4.4 billion. Business Week, as early as in 2002, acclaimed Terry Gou
as “the king of outsourcing” —when Foxconn was still behind longstanding industry leaders
Solectron18 and Flextronics. Since 2003, the Taiwan- invested company has been China’s
biggest exporter, and Foxconn’s revenue reached an unprecedented high of US$61.8 billion in
2008. Despite the sharp contraction of American and European demand for consumer electronics
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
during the recent economic downturn, Foxconn generated US$59.3 billion in revenue in 2009,
only a slight drop in sales of 4.1 per cent from the previous year. As investors and consumers
worldwide have regained some confidence in the global economy, Foxconn gained new orders
and workers were required to meet production deadlines, generating unprecedented level of
profits. In September 2010, Foxconn recorded revenue of NT$253.48 billion (US$8.3 billion),
68.2 per cent increase on year; and accumulated revenues for the first nine months peaked
NT$1.95 trillion (US$60.8 billion), up nearly 63 per cent on year. In 2020, Foxconn achieved
NT$5.35 trillion in revenue. The company has received widespread international accolades and
recognition since its establishment. In 2020, the company ranked 26th on the Fortune Global 500
rankings, 25th in the Top 100 Digital Companies in the Forbes ranking of the World’s Best
Employers in 2019.
1.2 Foxconn’s Strategy
As part of an ambitious diversification strategy, Foxconn decided to expand into three
domains—electric vehicles (EVs), digital health and robotics— while zeroing in on three key
technologies—AI, semiconductors and next-gen communication technologies.
As soon as Foxconn is mentioned, it is immediately related to Apple. Foxconn is the largest
vendor, supplying components and assembling products for Apple. In 2020, it had a turnover of
$193 billion and made a gross profit of $3.6 billion. As part of an ambitious diversification
strategy, Foxconn decided to expand into three domains—electric vehicles (EVs), digital health
and robotics— while zeroing in on three key technologies—AI, semiconductors and next-gen
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
communication technologies. Foxconn believes that this 3+3 strategy will give it infinite growth
potential.
Figure 1.
The most interesting aspect for me is Foxconn’s approach toward the EV market.
While the jury is still out on whether this will be a successful gambit, I do not doubt Foxconn’s
ability to make a strong impact in the established mobility value chain and garner the attention of
industry players.
One of the biggest weaknesses I foresee for Foxconn in terms of this
approach is its lack of experience in mobility. The mobility value chain is undeniably complex.
But instead of learning the rules of the game and trying to master them, Foxconn seems to have
embarked on a path that involves radically simplifying the value chain and creating a place for
itself. Irrespective of the result, its approach warrants closer attention.
As a mobility sector analyst, there are five notable points that I see anchoring Foxconn’s EV
strategy:
1. Targeting everything:
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
In analyzing the breadth of its EV initiatives, it seems that Foxconn is targeting every
aspect of the value chain, from component supply and contract manufacturing to launching its
own brand. It appears to be a simultaneous attempt to learn about the value chain and find a
position for itself. What makes Foxconn such an unpredictable player ties into where it finds a
strong foothold; it may emerge as a competitor, supplier or even a partner.
Figure 2.
2. Creating a value chain
Foxconn does not quite fit into the current mobility value chain. Instead of trying to
overcome this challenge, it has turned this weakness on its head, identifying and allying with
thousands of companies facing similar struggles in finding their position in this rigid value chain.
The MIH Alliance established by Foxconn has over 1,000 partner companies with the following
break up. The objectives of the MIH Alliance are quite interesting:
1. Open up the value chain.
2. Lower the barriers of entry.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
3. Provide ready resources for growth.
After its first membership meeting, the Alliance declared its intention to reduce the
development time for a new EV model from four years to two years. For a conventional
automotive player, this would appear to be a moonshot. However, VinFast has taught the
automotive industry that there are no sacred cows. As the mobility value chain takes shape,
everything—including product development lifecycle times—will be questioned. A disruptor
like Foxconn will force the traditional automotive industry to take a long, hard look at its
development processes.
3.Selling the tools:
Figure 3.
Of the several products and services that Foxconn is attempting to develop, the most
interesting is the skateboard platform. It aims to offer a platform that is available in four different
wheelbase configurations with three different battery packs and three different drives. In
addition, it will provide the hardware and software needed to run the platform. To understand the
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
importance of this strategy, consider Apple versus Android. These represent two contrasting
approaches to the value chain. Apple designed its own operating system (OS), developed and
manufactured the components, and created a closed value chain. Android provided a free OS and
encouraged cellphone manufacturers to assemble their own cellphones based on configurations
suited to their particular target markets. Tesla’s strategy is similar to that of Apple, while
Foxconn is attempting to be the Android of EVs. By providing software, hardware and a
mechanical platform on a ready-to-use basis, it is attempting to target several medium- to smallsized EV assemblers. These budding EV assemblers are looking at exploiting niche opportunities
related to purpose-built vehicles. These would provide highly customized mobility solutions such
as parcel delivery vehicles or dedicated e-hailing vehicles, among others. Currently, limited
volumes have meant that incumbent automotive players lack the motivation to invest in
developing new products for these applications. But once product development is democratized,
we will see the emergence of purpose-built vehicles for various niches. In such a scenario,
Foxconn and similar players will come out winners.
4. Teaming up with disruptors:
Foxconn has a clear strategy to partner with potential disruptors in the market. It has
partnered with Fiskar in the US and Byton in China to contract manufacture their vehicles. It has
also partnered with PTT, Thailand’s national oil producer, which has EV ambitions. PTT is
expected to focus on the downstream value chain, including retailing, charging infrastructure,
charging services and managing the customer lifecycle, while Foxconn is set to bring its
expertise on the upstream value chain, taking responsibility for sourcing, supply chain
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
management and production. It would be a perfect symbiotic relationship where both partners
focus on their core competencies and benefit from each other’s synergies.
5. Hedging its bets:
Such aggressive strategies notwithstanding, Foxconn seems to be hedging its bets by
partnering with established automotive players such as Geely and Stellantis. It has a 50:50 joint
venture—Mobile Drive—with Stellantis that focuses on smart cockpit solutions. Mobile Drive is
also a tier 1 supplier for Stellantis. The partnership with Geely will focus mostly on providing
supply chain and sourcing management services to other OEMs by combining Foxconn’s
expertise in electronics component sourcing with Geely’s know-how in conventional automotive
components.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
1.3 Organizational Structure
Figure 4. Organizational Structure
II. Statement of the Problem
Foxconn Complex is a major outsourcing firm that is located at Shenzen China. It
has over 50,000 of employees and workers who is mostly young. This company is known for
making Apple products, Dell and Hewlett Packard. Other than that, they are also known for
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
abusing their employee's health and freedom, industrial accidents and worker suicides often
happens in their company.
This study aims to identify the difficulties encountered by workers and employees in
an outsourcing company. Specifically, to answer the following questions:
1. What are the possible factors that can lead to worker's suicidal attempt?
2. What are the reasons that can cause workers to lose motivation at work?
3. Why do employees and workers don't feel job satisfaction?
III. Objective of the Case
The case study main objective is to know the factors that can lead to worker's
suicidal attempt that concerning to the employee's mental and emotional health. And also, to
provide the solution and recommendation to lessen the suicidal attempt and increase job
satisfaction.
IV. Review Related Literatures
The deaths of the workers in Foxconn have caused a lot of noise in the IT world.
Macs, iPods, iPhones and iPads are all assembled in Foxconn’s factory of China. And now,
without any explanations, workers who are assembling these gadgets have gone crazy and some
of them killed themselves. After the sixth suicide attempt happened in April, Southern Weekly’s
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
amateur reporter, Liu Zhi Yi, arranged to slip into Foxconn’s factory ... while another senior
reporter, Yang Ji Bin, conducted interviews with the senior management. Together, they have
found out the real living conditions of Foxconn workers.
The sprawling factory compound, all grey dormitories and weather-beaten warehouses, blends
seamlessly into the outskirts of the Shenzhen megalopolis. Foxconn’s enormous Longhua plant
is a major manufacturer of Apple products. It might be the best-known factory in the world; it
might also might be among the most secretive and sealed-off. Security guards man each of the
entry points. Employees can’t get in without swiping an ID card; drivers entering with delivery
trucks are subject to fingerprint scans. A Reuters journalist was once dragged out of a car and
beaten for taking photos from outside the factory walls. The warning signs outside – “This
factory area is legally established with state approval. Unauthorised trespassing is prohibited.
Offenders will be sent to police for prosecution!” – are more aggressive than those outside many
Chinese military compounds.
But it turns out that there’s a secret way into the heart of the infamous operation: use the
bathroom. I couldn’t believe it. Thanks to a simple twist of fate and some clever perseverance by
my fixer, I’d found myself deep inside so-called Foxconn City.
It’s printed on the back of every iPhone: “Designed by Apple in California Assembled in China”.
US law dictates that products manufactured in China must be labelled as such and Apple’s
inclusion of the phrase renders the statement uniquely illustrative of one of the planet’s starkest
economic divides – the cutting edge is conceived and designed in Silicon Valley, but it is
assembled by hand in China.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
The vast majority of plants that produce the iPhone’s component parts and carry out the device’s
final assembly are based here, in the People’s Republic, where low labour costs and a massive,
highly skilled workforce have made the nation the ideal place to manufacture iPhones (and just
about every other gadget). The country’s vast, unprecedented production capabilities – the US
Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that as of 2009 there were 99 million factory workers in
China – have helped the nation become the world’s secord largest economy. And since the first
iPhone shipped, the company doing the lion’s share of the manufacturing is the Taiwanese Hon
Hai Precision Industry Co, Ltd, better known by its trade name, Foxconn.
Foxconn is the single largest employer in mainland China; there are 1.3 million people on its
payroll. Worldwide, among corporations, only Walmart and McDonald’s employ more. As many
people work for Foxconn as live in Estonia.
A new report by China Labor Watch, a New York-based labor advocacy group, and the British
newspaper The Observer claimed that a Foxconn factory in Hengyang, China, had violated
employment laws. The factory produces Amazon’s Echo smart speakers and Kindle devices.
The observer’s report:
“Agency staff — known as dispatch workers in China — do not get sick pay or holiday pay and
can be laid off without wages during lulls in production. China changed its labor laws in 2014 to
limit their use to 10 percent of any work force in an attempt to stop companies exploiting them to
cut costs. The China Labor Watch investigation — published on Sunday in association with the
Observer — found that more than 40 percent of the staff in the Foxconn factory were agency
workers. Those working overtime were being paid at the normal hourly rate instead of the timeand-a-half required by Chinese law and by Amazon’s own supplier code of conduct”.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
China Labour Watch, a US-based workers’ rights organisation, reports that a worker has died
after jumping from a factory window on Saturday. Li Ming, aged 31, jumped to his death from a
building in the city of Zhengzhou, China, where he had been working for Foxconn – formally
known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Foxconn is a major supplier to Apple and Chinese
state media report that Zhengzhou is an important hub for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones. About
350,000 Foxconn workers reportedly work in the city producing half of all iPhones, at a rate of
350 per minute. Yet, poor labour practices and worker suicides have been an on-going problem
for Apple Inc and Foxconn. Due to Foxconn’s rapid production lines, demanding employee
targets and long working hours, it was accused of forcing its workers to endure “sweat shop”
conditions. It was these conditions that led to a spate of worker suicides and protests during 2010
and 2012. Despite claims by Apple that it had addressed such problems in its supply chain, in
2017 Apple and Foxconn also admitted to abuse of Chinese student interns abuses. Whereby
student workers, also at a Foxconn factory located in Zhengzhou, routinely had 11 hour shifts to
assemble the new iPhone X before its release. In fact as recently as November 2017, students
were discovered working overtime in Foxconn’s Chinese factory, violating local labour laws.
Such abuses and neglect by Apple and Foxconn have led SACOM, a Chinese labour rights
organisation, to start a campaign called ‘iSlave at 10’ to highlight what it calls “A Bloody
Decade of the iPhone”.
Amazon confirmed to the newspaper that its own audit of the factory this year had revealed how
Foxconn had been employing too many agency workers and that they were not rewarded suitable
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
overtime pay. “We immediately requested a corrective action plan from Foxconn,” Amazon said
in a statement.
Foxconn said that it was “carrying out a full investigation of the areas raised by that report.” The
company added that it “works hard to comply with all relevant laws and regulations” in the
markets where it operates and that “if infractions are identified, we work to immediately rectify
them.
Here’s a rundown of some of the issues that have reportedly plagued Foxconn’s factories:
■ Suicides. The company was hit by a wave of worker suicides in 2010. Other incidents have
occured since.
■ Wage and hours exploitation. In 2012, Foxconn was accused of underpaying wages and having
its employees work excessive hours. In response, the compnay pledged to curtail the length of
shifts and raise wages.
■ Serious accidents. One Foxconn worker was left brain damaged after an electric shock in 2011.
An explosion in one factory killed four people and injured another 18 in the same year.
■ Underage and illegal workers. Foxconn admitted to having hired teenagers as young as 14 at
one of its factories in 2012. Late last year, Apple confirmed that, at a plant where its iPhone X is
made, student workers were discovered to be working overtime — in violation of local laws.
■ Riots. More than 1,000 workers were involved in a violent disturbance at one of the company’s
factories in 2012.
■ Poor living standards. The New York Times reported in 2021 that as many as 20 workers
could be housed in three-room staff apartments.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Foxconn, for its part, has tried to address issues as they’ve come up, making its factories safer
and increasing pay to improve morale. But the new report from China Labor Watch and The
Observer suggests there is still some work to do.
Today, the iPhone is made at a number of different factories around China, but for years, as it
became the bestselling product in the world, it was largely assembled at Foxconn’s 1.4 squaremile flagship plant, just outside Shenzhen. The sprawling factory was once home to an estimated
450,000 workers. Today, that number is believed to be smaller, but it remains one of the biggest
such operations in the world. If you know of Foxconn, there’s a good chance it’s because you’ve
heard of the suicides. In 2010, Longhua assembly-line workers began killing themselves. Worker
after worker threw themselves off the towering dorm buildings, sometimes in broad daylight, in
tragic displays of desperation – and in protest at the work conditions inside. There were 18
reported suicide attempts that year alone and 14 confirmed deaths. Twenty more workers were
talked down by Foxconn officials.
The epidemic caused a media sensation – suicides and sweatshop conditions in the House of
iPhone. Suicide notes and survivors told of immense stress, long workdays and harsh managers
who were prone to humiliate workers for mistakes, of unfair fines and unkept promises of
benefits.
The corporate response spurred further unease: Foxconn CEO, Terry Gou, had large nets
installed outside many of the buildings to catch falling bodies. The company hired counsellors
and workers were made to sign pledges stating they would not attempt to kill themselves.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Steve Jobs, for his part, declared: “We’re all over that” when asked about the spate of deaths and
he pointed out that the rate of suicides at Foxconn was within the national average. Critics
pounced on the comment as callous, though he wasn’t technically wrong. Foxconn Longhua was
so massive that it could be its own nation-state, and the suicide rate was comparable to its host
country’s. The difference is that Foxconn City is a nation-state governed entirely by a
corporation and one that happened to be producing one of the most profitable products on the
planet.
“ If the boss finds any problems, they don’t scold you then. They scold you later, in front of
everyone, at a meeting”.
A cab driver lets us out in front of the factory; boxy blue letters spell out Foxconn next to the
entrance. The security guards eye us, half bored, half suspicious. My fixer, a journalist from
Shanghai whom I’ll call Wang Yang, and I decide to walk the premises first and talk to workers,
to see if there might be a way to get inside.
The first people we stop turn out to be a pair of former Foxconn workers.
“It’s not a good place for human beings,” says one of the young men, who goes by the name Xu.
He’d worked in Longhua for about a year, until a couple of months ago, and he says the
conditions inside are as bad as ever. “There is no improvement since the media coverage,” Xu
says. The work is very high pressure and he and his colleagues regularly logged 12-hour shifts.
Management is both aggressive and duplicitous, publicly scolding workers for being too slow
and making them promises they don’t keep, he says. His friend, who worked at the factory for
two years and chooses to stay anonymous, says he was promised double pay for overtime hours
but got only regular pay. They paint a bleak picture of a high-pressure working environment
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
where exploitation is routine and where depression and suicide have become normalised. “It
wouldn’t be Foxconn without people dying,” Xu says. “Every year people kill themselves. They
take it as a normal thing.”
Over several visits to different iPhone assembly factories in Shenzhen and Shanghai, we
interviewed dozens of workers like these. Let’s be honest: to get a truly representative sample of
life at an iPhone factory would require a massive canvassing effort and the systematic and
clandestine interviewing of thousands of employees. So take this for what it is: efforts to talk to
often skittish, often wary and often bored workers who were coming out of the factory gates,
taking a lunch break or congregating after their shifts.
The vision of life inside an iPhone factory that emerged was varied. Some found the work
tolerable; others were scathing in their criticisms; some had experienced the despair Foxconn
was known for; still others had taken a job just to try to find a girlfriend. Most knew of the
reports of poor conditions before joining, but they either needed the work or it didn’t bother
them. Almost everywhere, people said the workforce was young and turnover was high. “Most
employees last only a year,” was a common refrain. Perhaps that’s because the pace of work is
widely agreed to be relentless, and the management culture is often described as cruel.
Since the iPhone is such a compact, complex machine, putting one together correctly requires
sprawling assembly lines of hundreds of people who build, inspect, test and package each device.
One worker said 1,700 iPhones passed through her hands every day; she was in charge of wiping
a special polish on the display. That works out at about three screens a minute for 12 hours a day.
More meticulous work, like fastening chip boards and assembling back covers, was slower; these
workers have a minute apiece for each iPhone. That’s still 600 to 700 iPhones a day. Failing to
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
meet a quota or making a mistake can draw public condemnation from superiors. Workers are
often expected to stay silent and may draw rebukes from their bosses for asking to use the
restroom.
Xu and his friend were both walk-on recruits, though not necessarily willing ones. “They call
Foxconn a fox trap,” he says. “Because it tricks a lot of people.” He says Foxconn promised
them free housing but then forced them to pay exorbitantly high bills for electricity and water.
The current dorms sleep eight to a room and he says they used to be 12 to a room. But Foxconn
would shirk social insurance and be late or fail to pay bonuses. And many workers sign contracts
that subtract a hefty penalty from their pay if they quit before a three-month introductory period.
“The body-catching nets are still there. They look a bit like tarps that have blown off the things
they’re meant to cover”.
On top of that, the work is gruelling. “You have to have mental management,” says Xu,
otherwise you can get scolded by bosses in front of your peers. Instead of discussing
performance privately or face to face on the line, managers would stockpile complaints until
later. “When the boss comes down to inspect the work,” Xu’s friend says, “if they find any
problems, they won’t scold you then. They will scold you in front of everyone in a meeting
later.”
“It’s insulting and humiliating to people all the time,” his friend says. “Punish someone to make
an example for everyone else. It’s systematic,” he adds. In certain cases, if a manager decides
that a worker has made an especially costly mistake, the worker has to prepare a formal apology.
“They must read a promise letter aloud – ‘I won’t make this mistake again’– to everyone”.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
This culture of high-stress work, anxiety and humiliation contributes to widespread depression.
Xu says there was another suicide a few months ago. He saw it himself. The man was a student
who worked on the iPhone assembly line. “Somebody I knew, somebody I saw around the
cafeteria,” he says. After being publicly scolded by a manager, he got into a quarrel. Company
officials called the police, though the worker hadn’t been violent, just angry.
“He took it very personally,” Xu says, “and he couldn’t get through it.” Three days later, he
jumped out of a ninth-storey window.
So why didn’t the incident get any media coverage? I ask. Xu and his friend look at each other
and shrug. “Here someone dies, one day later the whole thing doesn’t exist,” his friend says.
“You forget about it.”
‘We look at everything at these companies,” Steve Jobs said after news of the suicides broke.
“Foxconn is not a sweatshop. It’s a factory – but my gosh, they have restaurants and movie
theatres… but it’s a factory. But they’ve had some suicides and attempted suicides – and they
have 400,000 people there. The rate is under what the US rate is, but it’s still troubling.” Apple
CEO, Tim Cook, visited Longhua in 2011 and reportedly met suicide-prevention experts and top
management to discuss the epidemic.
In 2012, 150 workers gathered on a rooftop and threatened to jump. They were promised
improvements and talked down by management; they had, essentially, wielded the threat of
killing themselves as a bargaining tool. In 2016, a smaller group did it again. Just a month before
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
we spoke, Xu says, seven or eight workers gathered on a rooftop and threatened to jump unless
they were paid the wages they were due, which had apparently been withheld. Eventually, Xu
says, Foxconn agreed to pay the wages and the workers were talked down.
When I ask Xu about Apple and the iPhone, his response is swift: “We don’t blame Apple. We
blame Foxconn.” When I ask the men if they would consider working at Foxconn again if the
conditions improved, the response is equally blunt. “You can’t change anything,” Xu says. “It
will never change.” Wang and I set off for the main worker entrance. We wind around the
perimeter, which stretches on and on – we have no idea this is barely a fraction of the factory at
this point.
After walking along the perimeter for 20 minutes or so, we come to another entrance, another
security checkpoint. That’s when it hits me. I have to use the bathroom. Desperately. And that
gives me an idea.
There’s a bathroom in there, just a few hundred feet down a stairwell by the security point. I see
the universal stick-man signage and I gesture to it. This checkpoint is much smaller, much more
informal. There’s only one guard, a young man who looks bored. Wang asks something a little
pleadingly in Chinese. The guard slowly shakes his head no, looks at me. The strain on my face
is very, very real. She asks again – he falters for a second, then another no.
We’ll be right back, she insists, and now we’re clearly making him uncomfortable. Mostly me.
He doesn’t want to deal with this. Come right back, he says. Of course, we don’t.
To my knowledge, no American journalist has been inside a Foxconn plant without permission
and a tour guide, without a carefully curated visit to selected parts of the factory to demonstrate
how OK things really are.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Maybe the most striking thing, beyond its size – it would take us nearly an hour to briskly walk
across Longhua – is how radically different one end is from the other. It’s like a gentrified city in
that regard. On the outskirts, let’s call them, there are spilt chemicals, rusting facilities and
poorly overseen industrial labour. The closer you get to the city centre – remember, this is a
factory – the more the quality of life, or at least the amenities and the infrastructure, improves.
A couple of workers on smartphones drift by us. We get close enough to see the gadgets through
the plastic and, nope, not iPhones either. They look like Apple TVs, minus the company logo.
There are probably thousands stacked here, awaiting the next step in the assembly line. If this is
indeed where iPhones and Apple TVs are made, it’s a fairly aggressively shitty place to spend
long days, unless you have a penchant for damp concrete and rust. The blocks keep coming, so
we keep walking. Longhua starts to feel like the dull middle of a dystopian novel, where the
dread sustains but the plot doesn’t.
We could keep going, but to our left, we see what look like large housing complexes, probably
the dormitories, complete with cagelike fences built out over the roof and the windows, and so
we head in that direction. The closer we get to the dorms, the thicker the crowds get and the
more lanyards and black glasses and faded jeans and sneakers we see. College-age kids are
gathered, smoking cigarettes, crowded around picnic tables, sitting on kerbs.
And, yes, the body-catching nets are still there. Limp and sagging, they give the impression of
tarps that have half blown off the things they’re supposed to cover. I think of Xu, who said: “The
nets are pointless. If somebody wants to commit suicide, they will do it.”
We are drawing stares again – away from the factories, maybe folks have more time and reason
to indulge their curiosity. In any case, we’ve been inside Foxconn for an hour. I have no idea if
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
the guard put out an alert when we didn’t come back from the bathroom or if anyone is looking
for us or what. The sense that it’s probably best not to push it prevails, even though we haven’t
made it on to a working assembly line.
With over 400,000 workers in the Foxconn factory of China, it will be a mess if workers are
mistreated badly. It’s definitely a pity for them to carry out mass production of iProducts while
not being able to afford one. Some of them even killed themselves from the working pressure
and I wish Foxconn could produce a better working environment like providing shopping malls,
cinemas or karaoke to entertain them. Destress rooms are probably not enough to fix their stress
and I’m afraid it’s a silly idea since it may lead the stressed worker to kill someone else. Also,
Foxconn needs to give more human rights to their workers and show more concern for them.
Foxconn, please don’t treat your workers like dogs. If Foxconn does not solve the problem, there
will be more suicides. The workers definitely need beer, romance, and slightly higher pay. To
put it simply, just make them happy.
V. Theories and Concepts
Theories
This paper presents the situation of factory workers in an outsourcing company that
faced life and death situations. This study shows how the proponents came up with the result
regarding to the problem. Foxconn Complex is an example of outsourcing company who is
responsible for making Apple products, Dell and Hewlett Packard. This outsourcing company
hired over 50,000 people to work for them but most of them are young and are even away from
their families.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
The objective of this study is to develop a solution to lessen the suicidal attempt and increase job
satisfaction and motivation of the employees. All of the information is analyzed to see if there is
an alternative solution to boost worker's motivation and lessen suicidal attempts.
The main problem in the workplace nowadays is no one tells you what to do, they will just leave
you tons of papers and tasks but they will not tell you anything on how to do it properly, it is
important to support workers and communicate to them properly about the tasks. Motivation is
an important thing in a workplace nowadays, motivation can do a lot of things and can affect
worker's productivity and willingness to work in a good way. Giving rewards is also a good way
to give back for the employee's effort for making the company succeed, it will also make them
feel that they are valued and may also lead them to exert more effort in their tasks.
Show the right attitude towards the employees and workers will boost their willingness to work.
Higher position employees attitude may affect their co-workers in either positive or negative
way. Positive attitude is important in a workplace because it will surely help each of them to be
more productive.
Communicating to workers about their problems, suggestions and feedbacks will hel the
company and the worker itself, once a worker feel that that they are valued they will put their
passion in everything they do for the company and they will surely be satisfied in their job they
may also feel dedicated to their tasks.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Concepts
Valued and heard
feedbacks of
workers
Involvement of
organization to
their employees
and workers
Less suicide cases of
workers and
increased number
of motivated
employees
Rewarding
employees as a
way of giving back
to their efforts and
giving them day
for rest
VI. Assumptions and Limitations
Assumptions
In our lives, we all have challenges. These challenges would test and make us
experience things. The paper is about the life and death at an outsourcing factory. There is this
company known as a major outsourcing firm, it is also revealed that there are incidents have
happened here; labor unrest, industrial accidents, and worker suicides. These are all very
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
alarming especially that the workers are young. If the organization don’t make an action about it,
a lot more incident would be made.
Limitations
The incident happened in this outsourcing factory is not a joke. We are talking
about life and death. Everyone knows how important life is. Talking about careers, we also know
the importance of it, but nothing is more important than ourselves. A person should not be
pushing themselves to their limit especially if they know that it would be hard for them. We all
have self-discipline. We deserve rest. We deserve our peace of mind. Therefore, actions to make
the happenings stop should begin.
VII. Alternative Courses of Actions
1. With the number of incidents happening at the said factory, the supervisor points out that the
firm provides counseling services.
Advantage: There are lots of young workers in the factory which means they would be far from
their parents, from their home, from their comfort zone. With the counseling service, it will help
them understand the importance of their job and especially their lives.
Disadvantage: The counseling service is a great idea but it wouldn’t change the numbers of
killings that have happened on the factory. It would also be time consuming since it is death we
are talking about here.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
2. Consumers should be knowledgeable and smart of buying the products made by these young
workers from the factory. They should stop supporting or buying products from these factories
who don’t treat their workers properly.
Advantage: It will lessen the pressure to the young workers. They could have more time for
themselves. The firm would also focus on having good teamwork for their business.
Disadvantage: The sales of their products would decrease and that could be a reason to make
their workers work more. Then, more incidents might happen.
3. Make the factory notice the incidents happening inside their firm, such as protest.
Advantage: If the people made a scene, then it the firm would focus on it more.
Disadvantage: It could bring burden or pressure to the workers as the handlers might get angry
of such scene thinking it would be a bad image for them, and their products might go down.
VIII. Recommendation and Conclusion
Due to Foxconn's rapid production lines, demanding employee targets and long
working hours, it was accused of forcing its workers to endure “sweat shop” conditions. It was
these conditions that led to a spate of worker suicides and protests during 2010 and 2012. In
2010, 14 workers committed suicide at factories in China operated by Hon Hai Precision
Industry, better known as Foxconn. These are the giant facilities that produce consumer
electronic devices for Hewlett-Packard, Dell and, most famously, Apple. They keep their
employees in overcrowded dormitories run by military-like security forces. People work
excessive hours, often with no compensation for overtime, which the company claims is done
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
voluntarily. Management controls every aspect of workers' lives, interfering with their privacy.
Apple supplier Foxconn has steadily improved the working conditions at three of its Chinese
factories following a February audit, by reducing employee overtime work and updating
maintenance policies and safety procedures.
I concluded that Foxconn should think the employees health and they should not
ignore their opinions. Employees are still a human. The company should increase their salary and
give them a enough rest. Foxconn should not control their lives . The employees still have a life
and they deserve to be happy and take a rest. It’s good when they said that they’re working on
improving the employees working schedule and increasing their salary.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
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