Foxconn claims suicidal workers did it for the money

While critics attribute the recent spate of suicide attempts at Foxconn to harsh work conditions, the company’s CEO Guo Tai-ming has a different theory: Some of them did it for the money, according to a report on MIC Gadget, which is why the company has announced it will no longer compensate the families of Foxconn workers who take their own lives.

Tai-ming has found himself in the hot seat in the wake of recent suicides and suicide attempts by Foxconn employees. Meanwhile, Apple has also felt pressure to answer for the working and living conditions at Foxconn, as the hardware manufacturer is responsible for cranking out Apple’s coveted iDevices.

[ Also on InfoWorld.com: Bill Snyder looks at the links between suicide, stupidity, and the iPhone | Keep up on key mobile developments and insights with the Mobile Edge blog and Mobilize newsletter. ]

Notably, Apple’s not the only IT giant to outsource its manufacturing to Foxconn. The company also handles hardware manufacturing for tech leaders such as HP and Intel. The economic benefits of outsourcing manufacturing jobs to China are apparent: Employees earn significantly lower wages, and the country has relatively lax labor laws. The legal minimum wage is about $132 per month, and workers are required to put in as many as 15-hour work days.

In an effort to deflect blame for the recent suicides from harsh working conditions, Tai-ming made the case earlier this week to Taiwanese press that at least some workers took their lives to cash in on the company’s generous suicide compensation program. As evidence, the CEO brandished what he said was a suicide note written by an employee. The letter, written in Chinese, translates as follows, according to MIC Gadget:

Mom, you always tell me to die, and now I will jump down from Foxconn. I really have to go. You don’t have to feel sad: Foxconn will pay some money, and as your son, this is the only way to return you.

Mental illness also played a role, Tai-ming said. According to a survey conducted by a “suicide association” that investigated the suicides at Foxconn, Tai-ming said three of the victims suffered mental illness and eight have emotional disorders. This raises the obvious question of whether the working and living conditions at Foxconn caused or exacerbated those disorders, driving the employees to suicide.

Beyond putting an end to the suicide compensation program, Tai-ming said Foxconn is considering moving its main production lines back to Taiwan and using more automated production — as well as selling the company’s dormitories to the local government so that authorities could take responsibility for the living conditions.

While I acknowledge that Foxconn is taking some steps toward making the lives of its employees more tolerable — such as significantly raising wages — I’m appalled by the implication that some employees were taking their lives to game the company’s compensation policy. Suicide is an act of extreme despair — and given that employees lived and worked at Foxconn facilities, it’s tough not to attribute that despair at least in part to the conditions at Foxconn.

More troubling, Foxconn likely has better working and living conditions than other manufacturing companies in the region. After all, the tech companies that have chosen Foxconn as their manufacturer claim to have strict CSR guidelines and to hold their partners to a high standard.

Apple, HP, Dell, Intel, and all the other high-tech companies need to be more vigilant as to whom they work do business with — and to carefully consider just how much cheap labor is worth. Of course, that also puts a degree of responsibility on customers and stockholders of the IT giants of world. How much is it worth to you to save $20 on your new iPhone 4G?

This article, “Foxconn claims suicidal workers did it for the money,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog.