Hon Hai/Foxconn to 'significantly' raise wages in Taiwan
updated 11:15 am EDT, Thu April 5, 2012
Attracting, retaining talent main concern
Apple's primary supplier, Hon Hai -- better known as Foxconn -- is "significantly" raising wages for Taiwanese workers, a Hon Hai spokesman tells the Wall Street Journal. The raise will take effect in July, and affect roughly 10,000 people at the company's headquarters, most of whom work on research and development, marketing, and business planning. The spokesman, Simon Hsing, says Hon Hai still hasn't decided on the exact size of the salary hike, but that the company wants to better attract and keep talent.
Hon Hai's Taiwanese labor force is notably distinct from that in China, where hundreds of thousands are employed in assembly-line jobs. That group had basic salaries raised on February 1st, as Hon Hai and Apple came under increasing fire for poor working conditions at Chinese factories. Activists have highlighted problems like low wages, excessive overtime, and serious safety concerns, which were recently validated by a Fair Labor Association report.
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Joined: Mar 2011
And then on to the next Third World country...
We've seen this with Japan, and on and on. Eventually their pay will increase to the point that they have to go to the next country with low wages for production.
Someday we will all realize that the Wal-Mart mentality ("Everyone deserves what the rich people have" - a paraphrase of their earlier motto) is not good for the economy because you're shipping your jobs offshore so that you can have 4 $800 HDTVs instead of 1 $3200 HDTV built in Cleveland. My folks bought a mohair sofa in the late 50s for $600 when my father made $500/mo as a pharmacist. Relative costs have changed dramatically, but that means that we're not producing anything and thus there are no jobs except at Chik-Fil-A. I'm slightly to the right of Atilla the Hun, but we need to realize that to keep a robust economy we actually have to make stuff like tires and electronics. Can't see the general populace figuring that one out sadly.