The Foxconn Technology Group's factory in southern China has been plagued by suicides in recent months. A young man who jumped to his death late Wednesday became the 10th person at the Shenzhen factory--and the 11th Foxconn worker--to commit suicide this year. His death came just after Foxconn's chairman led a media tour of the factory.
The Chinese factory is one of Apple's "main manufacturer contractors," and in addition to churning out iPods, iPhones, and iPads, the factory also supplies Intel, Dell, Sony, Nokia, and HP, among other firms.
The Associated Press writes of Foxconn's labor practices: "Labor activists have long said that Foxconn's problem was a rigid management style on factory floors, where the assembly line moved too fast and workers were forced to log too much overtime. Foxconn has repeatedly denied the allegations."
The company plans to institute new measures it hopes will prevent additional employee deaths. In addition to installing safety nets on Foxconn buildings, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou said more counselors would be hired, and explained that "employees were being divided up into 50-member groups, whose members would watch for signs of emotional trouble within their group." The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that the factory had also asked their employees to sign a "no suicide" pledge."
See pictures of the Foxconn factory in the slideshow below. Read more about the most recent tragic death here.