Taiwan capital cuts maximum working hours for laborers as Hon Hai reports 41% revenue growth

By on Apr 14, 2011 at 11:57 PM
Business April 14, 2011

It’s no wonder why Foxconn is considering moving some facilities outside Taiwan and China and into other countries like Brazil. Beyond the potential tax benefits for the manufacturer and its clients, China and Taiwan are finally beginning to address problems surrounding the working conditions its citizens have endured in recent history. Forced wage increases and other recent moves such as Taipei City’s decision on Tuesday to slash the maximum monthly working hours from 312 to 260 for some laborers threaten to spill over into other regions and industries. For Foxconn and parent company Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. — which just revealed March revenue of NT$214.9 billion ($7.39 billion USD), up 41% over February — the financial impact of these moves on the bottom line could be massive. It will be interesting to see how Chinese President Hu Jintao receives Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff as they discuss shifting billions of dollars out of China and into Brazil.

Read

Tags:
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
21 Comments

Related Articles

  • Greg Hao

    Zach – not related to the post but where did you get the photo of Taipei 101? Thanks!

  • http://webhostingreview.info/forum-hosting/ smithon

    why don’t cut the working hours

  • Anonymous

    Real nice.

    I’m sure the US will follow. Over here when you hear the phrase “competing in a global economy” you can rest assured it’s coming from the mouth of someone advocating slave labor wages and working conditions.

    Yeah, yeah, my electronic gadgets wouldn’t be so cheap if it weren’t for slave labor, but low-middle class wouldn’t have such a problem buying gadgets if they’re wages weren’t being measured up against those working in 2nd-3rd world working conditions.

    • http://profiles.google.com/djblois Daniel Blois

      Actually you are wrong. All developing countries go through this. Look at the US, the UK, France, and any other country during the industrial revolution. We had the same wages and working conditions. If the people in unskilled, uneducated countries got paid the same as industrialized countries than companies would NOT invest and open up factories in these countries therefore they would NOT receive the benefits. The reason why China and Taiwan are not exporting labor is because Wages in those countries are increasing because people are becoming skilled and educated. That would NOT have happened if countries did not send their labor there. Plus, all those people you complain are getting “Slave labor” are making MUCH MORE money then they were prior.

      • Anonymous

        You’re a fucking goof you know that? So I guess China should have kept their labor uneducated and unskilled so people like you can sit their fat lazy cheapskate asses at a Starbucks and play with an iPad, Xoom, iPhone, laptop and act like a ignorant cunt on the net. The only reason those workers were able to gleam any sort of improvement in their lives was because they had the balls to fight back speak up and expose Gou’s operation for the sweatshop it really is. Here’s a newsflash for you jackass you not having the latest model of iPhone every year doesn’t equate to a traumatic life threatening experience that will mentally scar you for life. Grab a brain you stupid motherfucker some cheaply manufactured gadget isn’t worth people’s basic human rights being violated so fools like you can save a 100 bucks on a tablet.

        I’m glad the workers of China are finally having some of their workplace conditions improved and its about fucking time. Hopefully when the king of asshole’s, Terri Gou, arrives in Brazil enough Brazilians have the sense to demand the greedy cocksucker pay’s decent wages and benefits. If he doesn’t I hope Brazil is smart enough to tell him to go fuck himself and sends him on his way back to Asia. Brazilian society has already been used enough by the rich and retarded of the world they don’t need this greedy cunt from Asia to add to the mix.

      • Jon

        You are such a fucking schmuck and you can’t even see it.

        Capitalism isn’t God, and it doesn’t justify the inhumane treatment of workers in vulnerable countries.

        Maybe we, in America, like our shit cheap, and, maybe, we accept those goods even though it comes from sweatshops/practically sweatshops, but at least as someone who buys goods from a company enslaving people you could recognize how awful it is. Instead of standing up and touting how you “saved” these people, just say, “Yeah, I like my shit cheap. Whether from Asia or South America,”

        Take your head out of capitalism’s ass.

      • Anonymous

        Well said Jon bravo to your post. Unfortunately pieces of shit like Daniel Blois are so short sighted they’ve become to stupid to know how to pull their heads out of their asses. The fact that these dumb assholes refuse to understand that in the long run they’re only screwing over their own kids and grand kids shows how fucked up and diluted their view of life is. It’s uncaring douches like these that have screwed the world up so badly and have generated sweatshop’s billions in revenue.

      • http://profiles.google.com/djblois Daniel Blois

        You guys have NO education. Look at history – the US over 100 years ago had the same working conditions. So did all of Europe and Japan. Attacking me proves your ignorance. I do not care for the iPhone or anything like that. But if you learn about economics and comparative advantage you would know theoretically that they benefit from trade. Then if you look at the economy of all these places before they had FDI, it was much worse. Take South Korea for example 20 years ago they had terrible working conditions now it is much better and they export labor to China as the rest of the world does. Capitalism is NOT god but it has done more to lift people out of poverty than all the money donated ever has. (not to say that donated money does not help)

  • https://me.yahoo.com/a/J7Mg.aBrt_zUZAONR5KHn_om4dCMew--#37f81 indio7777

    Globalization’s a bitch, huh China?

  • http://profiles.google.com/rodcesar Rodrigo Marques

    Actually Zach, working hours or rising wages have nothing to do with why Foxconn is pouring money into Brazil. The reality of the Brazilian market is that you cannot be competitive on price without local manufacturing presence, especially in the electronics industry, as taxes and import duties can be almost half of the price consumers pay for product that comes from China. By manufacturing in Brazil, you can reduce the tax burden on the final product from 50% to around 25%-30% depending on where you set-up shop in the country. With a population of 200 million and fast-growing economy and wages, Brazil can’t be ignored, so companies like Apple (and by association, Foxconn) cannot afford to ignore the opportunity, especially when competition like Samsung, Motorola, LG and Nokia already have huge factories and are selling locally manufactured versions of the Xoom and Galaxy Tab at much lower prices than the iPad, for example. In addition, labor costs in Brazil are so much more expensive than in China (also because of taxes and a much-stronger social safety net in comparison) that claiming that lower labor costs are the reason that Chinese manufacturers are moving into Brazil is, in one word, stupid.

    • http://profiles.google.com/djblois Daniel Blois

      you are one of the first intelligent people on here

    • JustSayin

      It’s really not stupid of Zachary, or anyone else, to address the exploration of labor. Have you ever been to Brazil? Sure, it’s one of the world’s largest economies and has quite a bit of wealth, but that wealth is pretty concentrated. The companies you mention aren’t hiring from the citizens who are buying iPads, they are hiring from the vast slums that exist in Brazil. It’s true that there maybe be some tax benefits from moving manufacturing to Brazil, but there are also downsides. I’d be willing to bet more iPads and iPhones are sold in Asia than in South America.

      The labor exploits in Asia have built up economies that are now demanding more money for their services an manufacturers don’t want to pay- that’s why they want to move. Unless there has been some spike in taxes in those countries that I’m unaware of then the tax savings isn’t that significant, otherwise they would have manufactured in Brazil from the start.

      Taxes and capotalizism may be foes, but hamanitarian efforts and manufacturing are even bigger foes.

      • http://profiles.google.com/rodcesar Rodrigo Marques

        I am actually from Brazil and I work on the electronics industry so I think I am qualified to say that exploration of labor has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with why Foxconn is willing to invest 12 billion dollars in Brazil. I agree that concentration of wealth is a HUGE problem in Brazil, but to suggest that the factories hire from the slums is disingenuous. Brazil has factories, but in a scale that pales in comparison to China, so companies can be a lot more strict about their requirements (requiring basic English knowledge, a technical or college degree, etc.) and most pay 2-3 times the minimum wage to assembly workers (which right now is around 345 dollars a month), which is way more than any company pays in China. Most people who live in Brazilian slums, unfortunately, are not nearly qualified enough to work in an average Brazilian factory and most would dream of having a job that pays like that.
        Look, maybe it was a little harsh of me to call Zach stupid for suggesting what he did, but a little research before claiming a connection between two completely different issues goes a long way.

    • Anonymous

      So your saying Terri Gou isn’t trying to move some of his operations to Brazil because he knows he can get away with sweatshop labor practices. Yeah right grande puta you’re so full of it. Gou is a greedy money hungry bitch living off the sweat of the poor like a maggot lives off of rotting flesh.

      • http://profiles.google.com/rodcesar Rodrigo Marques

        That’s exactly what I’m saying and your response goes to show that you know NOTHING about Brazil.

      • Anonymous

        Lmao people like Terri Gou love people like you Marques. But hey what would I possibly know about Brazil? (begins to really start laughing at your comment).

        Vai com Deus Marques a raca brasileira esta em minhas rezas.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Rusty-Harris/1057067818 Rusty Harris

    Am I wrong or does 312 hours a month, on a standard 5 day work week, times 4 weeks, equals 20 days, that comes out to 16 hour days, but if they are working 7 days a week, it’s just over 10 hours a day.
    When I was YOUNG, I worked 6-7 day weeks, just for the extra money.

    • Jon

      I think the key word here is “extra.” These people work insane hours because if they don’t they can’t eat, and, if they quit, they will starve. Also, those aren’ll all kids saving for beer money for next semester… a lot are over worked older folks with no savings.

      I see where you were going, but you can’t really compare an American worker to a worker working in sweatshop/near sweatshop conditions.

      • Anonymous

        Congrats friend, you obviously have a heart. Kudos to your post.

    • Anonymous

      If it’s such a great deal go to China and work for Foxxconn on the manufacturing floor. Fucking ignorant douche.

  • Bringit

    iPAPiNYC increases his minimum anal entries with Tim242 to 5 a day. iPAPiNYC is wide open, drooiiid style.

blog comments powered by Disqus