Foxconn Holds Anti-Suicide Rally for Employees

[maigo]

maybe they should start putting xanax in the water

 

[borisof007]

Pink shirts, that's a real morale booster.

 

[JMcEntegart]

[citation][nom]irh_1974[/nom]I sure hope all these comments, (and indeed the post itself - i'm talking to you Jane), are just a big joke.Suicide rates at Foxconn are 1/7th of the national average. ...[/citation]

Understood, but don't you think that the similarities among the suicide victims could be indicative of something more?

According to a May 2010 article in the London Telegraph, all those who committed suicide were under the age of 25, all used the same method, and all had been working for Foxconn for less than six months. At the time, Foxconn also said it had prevented a further 30 suicide attempts in the three weeks leading up to suicide number eight.

I see where you're coming from about average suicide rates per 100,000 but these don't seem like 'average' suicides.

This whole affair is similar to what went down at France Telecom not too long ago. 23 employees across France killed themselves, and a further 13 attempted to take their lives. Again, France Telecom tried to explain the numbers using national averages of suicides, but so many family and friends of the victims claimed the reason they had done it was because of stress at work, and blamed management at France Telecom for being awful to employees.

In short, no, I'm not joking. While the suicides per 100,000 are below the nation's average, I think 30 attempts in three weeks is not normal. If a company has to erect nets to stop people from jumping, there's a problem.

 

[irh_1974]

Jane, if we are going to include prevented attempts then compare those to the rest of the world, the USA and the Detroit PD.
300,000 people a year in the USA attempt suicide and are prevented or survive, that's 100 per 100,000
30 in 3 weeks would be approx 520 per year if the rate was constant and thats approx 56 per 100,000, half the USA again

Correlation between attempts and successes still dont add up to anything fishy, overall it is still less likely you will attempt or be successful

By the way, quoting Wiki here

The suicide rate among France Télécom's 102,000 domestic employees is 15.3 per year, compared with an average of 14.7 suicides per 100,000 in the French population as a whole

It isn't the same as France Telecom was higher than the national trend, Foxconns is much, much lower

 

[mpavao81]

Wow out of all the pictures they could have showed/taken they use this one. Picture tells it all, these people are absolutely miserable. I mean if this is the best picture you can find of foxconn employees then no wonder. The guy on the left looks like hes thinking about jumping off a building right now.

 

[mpavao81]

And instead of spending money to get people to come chear them up. How about you give them paid lunches and paid breaks And a pay increase. Instead of trying to make yourself (foxconn) look good.

 

[chickenhoagie]

oh man, they sure seem happy as hell in that picture. poor chinese folks..I sympathize to all the hard workers over there. they do not work to live..they live to work, and have no choice.

 

[mpavao81]

And does it strike anyone as weird that they Chinese workers that are in a Chinese factory in a Chinese city are wearing T-shirts that are written in English?????

 

[shozzking]

has anyone else noticed how the writing on the t-shirts is in english instead of chinese? huge PR stunt anyone?

 

[Marco925]

The Chinese electronics manufacturer has hired monks, exorcists and counselors; erected nets to catch jumpers; asked staff to sign no-suicide contracts and twice raised the salaries of employees. This week the company is adding "no-suicide rally" to that list.

I thought foxconn was taiwanese?

 

[nebun]

"In the past, from the time we started work until when we finished, we would not really have a break."

is this really true? it's so very say to see this happen...too bad that the company has a hand in most of the electronic components for all the motherboards and other components for that matter, otherwise i would never support such stupidity.

 

[MonsterCookie]

More suicide -- less human population. Considering that among all of us humans mostly China and Indian is recklessly overpopulating this darn tiny planet and humans multiply faster than rats I got to say:
Just go ahead, and DO IT!
Even rats do die faster and start to kill each other if they overpopulate an area due to stress.

And yes, for your information I do hate people (myself included) because there is just way too many of them. Also, from survival perspective statistically speaking that factory is more safe than I am in my apartment.
I am thinking even right now of jumping ... into my bed and sleep ... but I can do that only after I bough my new Foxcon board. Though, I hope there will be no rotten human "accessories" in any of the boxes.

 

[mchawk]

@ irh_1974
Wow... heres a folk who can't connect the dots...
Do you always think as if things were like a on-off switch? "Oh, if its above the average number we have a problem. Oh, if its below the average number we don't."
The issue is NOT about the suicides itself, its about how bad Foxconn treats its employees...
...
You know what? I won't feed the trolls...

 

[mchawk]

@ MonsterCookie

*Aplause*

 

[JamesSneed]

I think irk_1974 had a perfectly valid point. The only thing I take issue with is that they are taking their lives at work which does point to the stressor being Foxconn.

 

[liquidsnake718]

I am not one for dark humor, nor am i really hesitant on writing this because the situation there is sad and lives are being lost but that shirt...... the I love foxconn shirts, umm should be a splatter instead of a heart.... Im sorry. I will offend ppl but I just couldn't help it

 

[dEAne]

hey look at their faces - they are not happy aren't they?

 

[eddieroolz]

Or they can give them a 10-minute break every once now and then. You know, like a decent human being deserves.

 

[chickenhoagie]

[citation][nom]MonsterCookie[/nom]More suicide -- less human population. Considering that among all of us humans mostly China and Indian is recklessly overpopulating this darn tiny planet and humans multiply faster than rats I got to say:Just go ahead, and DO IT! Even rats do die faster and start to kill each other if they overpopulate an area due to stress.And yes, for your information I do hate people (myself included) because there is just way too many of them. Also, from survival perspective statistically speaking that factory is more safe than I am in my apartment.I am thinking even right now of jumping ... into my bed and sleep ... but I can do that only after I bough my new Foxcon board. Though, I hope there will be no rotten human "accessories" in any of the boxes.[/citation]

damn..i'd flame you to death and tell you that you have no soul but, you hate yourself too. can't say theres any hypocrisy there. good job my man. lets just hope you not spoil it for others and go on a mass killing spree only to kill yourself too, like all those other suicide bombing jihads and idiots.


damn, gotta agree though. its way overpopulated, and people need to learn what birth control means. one baby per family please?

 

[cpburns]

National average suicide rates. OK, nice. But those rates are across a country, everywhere in that country. Why are these people specifically doing it at work? Their workplace cannot be the only place they could possible take their lives successfully.

 

[JOSHSKORN]

Plain and simple, how to boost employee morale:
Pay Raise
Company Dinners
Benefits - Health, Dental & Vision
"Perks"
Frequent Trainings allowing your staff to realize that you as management care, to boost morale, include safety practices
Don't give men pink shirts to wear. That's kind of a girlie-girl thing.
Restructure your business so there is a ladder, so one can work hard and get a promotion, or at least a pay raise.

Really, I have a feeling suicide nets are just going to be counter productive. That is, more people will find a way to commit suicide than without them.

 

[JOSHSKORN]

Also wanted to add that if people are committing suicide, it might not just be work that's making them put themselves over the edge. Sometimes it's deeper. Should also offer counseling services.

 

[kelemvor4]

Looks to me like most of the people in that photo don't want to make it through the night.

 

[igot1forya]

Foxconn motherboards are made of people... PEOPLE!!!!

 

[deecrutch]

I don't know much about running a business, but I do know this. If I am at the point where I have to start holding anti-suicide rallies, there is something terribly, TERRIBLY wrong! I think it is well past time to do some SERIOUS re-evaluating.