Foxconn Reportedly Making PS4s With Forced Student Labor

[Baresark]

I have to be honest... it sounds like a internship to me. In most internships, students are made to do things that amount to menial labor and have no bearing on their actual degree. Also, I abhor the language used here. Sounds to me like they chose to go and chose to stay there for their credits. Forced usually means held against their will in some capacity. No one is holding a gun against their heads. And it's not child labor. They are not children, they are adults in college programs. And yes, this is the plant where they installed the suicide nets, because it's clearly the most abominable company on the planet.... oh wait with a suicide rate of about 20-22 per 100k, that actually puts them far below the national average. But that aside!

No one is saying these guys aren't a bunch of dicks. I'm sure they are. But they run a massive company that employs a lot of people. They are simply doing internships the way most internships are done. I know some yahoo is going to respond to this and go, "no... noo, you know how I know.... I did an internship that actually let me work in the field tha.. that I'm studying". I'm not afraid to say, you are not the rule, you are exception. I see internships at my company all the time. All they do is clean build rooms and organize chords. They are only there for the credits, they are very hard working and the minimal they have to do in order to get their credits makes them happy. No intern is going to go and work on actual IT infrastructure, that would be the stupidest thing as most companies can't afford to have their infrastructure taken down by the intern that is going to be there that week or that month. I just can't stand the witch hunts articles about this company spawns on sites like... well like any of these. The evidence suggests that it's not actually that bad of a place to work. And this isn't changed by the fact that they are putting interns to work doing menial tasks for credits. That is done everywhere.

But, everyone can have their fun and say how horrible this place is... then go buy their Xbox One, their PS4, their latest iCrap and feel good knowing they were sticking it to this company on the internet where literally no one cares how they reason out or justify what they say.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Wow, I thought exploitative labour couldn't get any cheaper. Kudos China! I would be interested to know just how many big companies have their products made there, I expect it will be a long list of well known names.

 

[Formica Archonis]

Just for reference, 10% of Microsoft's Xbox One components are also assembled at the Foxconn plant.

10% of everything electronic is assembled at a Foxconn plant. Oh, look at this nice Intel motherboard. Cables and several of the board components have the Foxconn logo. Oh, look at this nice sleek Apple gizmo. Same.

Oh, look at this Foxconn motherboard. Bargain basement quality, but at least it's being honest.

 

[dyre]

I have to be honest... it sounds like a internship to me. In most internships, students are made to do things that amount to menial labor and have no bearing on their actual degree.

That was my reaction to it too. Heck, a ton of internships here in the US are unpaid too. Though over here we're assigned to Xerox machines and coffee makers, not PS4 assembly lines. From my time in China, I was told that China actually has a business culture that involves lots of unpaid interns that sit around and do nothing, just for a resume line, a rec letter, and ofc networking. Of course this is different, but it's just to reinforce that unpaid interns are nothing new.

Dickish stuff that they're using them for factory labor, but not nearly as dickish as some of the other stuff that goes on in China.

Though to your point about a company never allowing interns to get involved with IT infrastructure, at the last company I interned in, the IT interns did work directly with the infrastructure. One of them wrote a program that uses SQL to add/update/pull accounting entries, I think. Depends on where you work, I guess.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

Is there any electric device that isn't made by forced Chinese labor though?

At this point it would probably be a shorter list to list off all the things, period, that aren't.

I mean, even goddamn Acer. They're based in Taiwan -- Taiwan, aka the Republic of China, aka the island the real Chinese government fled to when Mao took over and who should have more reason than anyone else in the entire world to refuse to do business with the PRC, and which ironically was also a popular part of the world to outsource to -- and their computers are still made in China. Fuck this shit; I'm gonna go join a commune or something.

 

[hazydawn]

Well... I'd say that's the problem of the Chinese people and their government. If I can wear clothes without giving a shit where they came from I can sleep well without thinking of Chinese students working at an internship and not getting paid.
Not gonna buy any console though >.

Edit: I'd think about it this way however, do you want a console which is manufactured by unpaid laborers not giving a shit whether they do it right?
If I was at that line I'd screw up just to mess with them.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Of course it's alright if Sony uses forced student labor to make their consoles. I bet if Microsoft did this, they'd be crucified.

 

[Pink Apocalypse]

Nets, counsellors, and exorcists. Not even joking. [a href="http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/14/foxconn-chairman-has-sought-the-aid-of-an-exorcist-to-stop-sui/"]Exorcists[/a].

I'm somewhere between baffled and amused when stories like this (often originating from India, where you can be sued for selling a haunted house) pop up to seemingly perplex people, yet they accept prayer circles for sick people, or conservative politicians raving about the 'devil's influence' without batting an eye.

Let's spread the bemused and appalled reactions evenly. No one belief system is any more valid than another. And attempting to quantify such results in ethocentric bias at, best, and rabbit-hole thinking at worst.

 

[PsychoticHamster]

As much as this sucks,I think most of the blame can fall on China on this one. While we are partly responsible for supporting these practices by buying their products, ultimately its China's policies that allow for this to happen. Hell, even in America we have a similar but less horrible situation where people intern at places for long hours without getting paid doing menial work. The only difference is that we can quit any time without it having a huge impact on our educational goals. I would say boycott Foxconn products, but then you'd have to just abandon all forms of electronics. Its another one of those things all we can do is shake our heads at.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

Reading the headline I pictured 10 year olds, not "kids" majoring in finance. Click bait much, I just assume that any piece of technology is glued together with childs tears.

I would however be lying if I said I cared for the plights of people slightly younger than I am being stiffed at an internship. It's not like they're shackled to the workstations.

So being forced to do unpaid work of no relevance to their degree mearly to complete their degrees is fine because they aren't children.

I'd figure they'd have developed some form of independent thought (at that age) enough to say 'fuck this shit' and leave and if they're too spineless and/or stupid to do otherwise then they get whats coming to them. Economical Darwinism.

 

[Strazdas]

Its Foxconn. they have been doing this and were called on this at least 3 times in the past. its really nothing new about FoxConn, whats interesting is why some companeis risk a PR disaster by using them.

I don't even think it went that far. More like 'we knew it was happening, but now we have to pretend we care until it falls out of the spotlight, and then it's business as usual.'

Well, that worked for apple when their iphones were manufacted at FoxConn by forced student labor.

I'd figure they'd have developed some form of independent thought (at that age) enough to say 'fuck this shit' and leave and if they're too spineless and/or stupid to do otherwise then they get whats coming to them. Economical Darwinism.

You have to realized that in China if they said "fuck this shit" They have just condemned themselves to ENTIRE LIFE of hard labour if they want to ever get paid anything. they woudl be thrown out of their studies and noone woudl ever allow them in again. its a loss situation either way. so they chose to do hard labour for couple years vs hard labour thier entire life.

Of course it's alright if Sony uses forced student labor to make their consoles. I bet if Microsoft did this, they'd be crucified.

If you read the article to the end you would have known that Xbox components are also assembled at FoxConn.

 

[Syzygy23]

Is there any electric device that isn't made by forced Chinese labor though?

They have entire polluted wastelands over there where people recycle cell phones and laptops and whatnot. To the detriment of their own health.

It's the uncomfortable truth behind practically all our entertainment. But what can we do about it?

Robotic workforce, that's what. However, that would also put the factory workers out of their jobs, as meager paying as it is.

 

[schrodinger]

Jesus tap-dancing christ, i thought that horrible factory was shutdown already. It's bad enough the labor laws over in china get exploited as shit, but when the same factory that almost had its workforce commit mass suicide it needs to be burnt to the ground.

 

[MammothBlade]

Unfortunately, this is how all mass produced electronics are made. People will continue to ignore it since otherwise it would cost too much.

Lol no. The consumer isn't seeing cost-savings from this. All the savings from exploitation go directly to the manufacturer and shareholders.

This is what happens when greed is God. The sooner we evolve past capitalism, the better.

I can't always source goods ethically. But now I know that they're using FOXCONN, I can't ignore it. I am not buying a next-gen console produced by wage-slavery. Will go second-hand.

 

[Lightknight]

The program lures students in by posing as an "internship" that offers them credits towards their degree, but upon arriving at the factory, the students are often assigned tasks that have no bearing whatsoever on their field of study.

Does it not offer them credits towards their degree? I'm not sure that "no bearing whatsoever on their field of study" impacts whether or not they get credits. The article has also since been updated to clarify that they may be getting paid for the work but the reporter isn't sure about the specifics.

A potentially "paid internship" that actually rewards the individual with degree credits is already better than several of the unpaid internships we have here in America where the only benefit is saying the word "internship" on your resume.

Is this requirement of the college not advertised? The article seems to say that it's part of the work and is publicized. That'd be like me complaining that my school required me to take x-number of credit hours so I'm effectively being "forced" to take that number of classes.

I will say that every electronic device we have all have at least a few components that were made in countries with incredibly questionable labor practices (aka, actual slavery). Pretty much every smart phone, every tablet, etc.

For example: http://www.free2work.org/2012/05/02/mapping-a-supply-chain-consumer-electronics/

The article for this thread sounds like just an internship that people sign up for. It's funny that the XBO is a small side comment at the bottom. "Oh, by the way, XBO's are also partly manufactured here too but we just put ps4 in the title because..."

"Update 10/10: I?ve removed a reference to the students not being paid, as it?s not entirely clear how they are compensated. I?ve also added some information about Foxconn offering per-student kickbacks to schools in previous cases like this."

Hmm, they can't even say that they aren't paid.

 

[keserak]

An odd tale to be sure. Not quite sure where I sit on the issue. People bring up child labor; which is bad/wrong, but what about adults (young adults mind you) being put to work. True it's something they're not being paid for so yeah it's rather mean thing to do.

Are people really so immoral that stolen labor is "debateable"?

 

[direkiller]

So, how do I know what electronics are manufactured at foxconn then?

YOu would have to avoid electronic equipment made by,
Acer, Dell, Motorola, Toshiba, Nintendo, Google, Vizio, Apple, HP, Nokia, Cisco, Microsoft, Sony, Amazon.

building a computer would not be that hard but I think you would be hard pressed to find a phone

 

[Someone Depressing]

Well, that... sucks. I won't be getting a PS4 (I still can't decide whether ot not I liked the Vita) but this is a tragedy. And it should be looked into. But other than that, what's there to say? Nothing. Other than it should be stopped, or the students should be paid a decent wage to compensate.

 

[J Tyran]

The article for this thread sounds like just an internship that people sign up for. It's funny that the XBO is a small side comment at the bottom. "Oh, by the way, XBO's are also partly manufactured here too but we just put ps4 in the title because..."

"Update 10/10: I?ve removed a reference to the students not being paid, as it?s not entirely clear how they are compensated. I?ve also added some information about Foxconn offering per-student kickbacks to schools in previous cases like this."

Hmm, they can't even say that they aren't paid.

As its Foxconn I would guess the students get room and board at least, Foxconn factories have on site accommodation and kitchens for staff. Its only barracks and mess halls though, similar to something you see in the military.

 

[The Apple BOOM]

This isn't capitalism's fault, this is corruption's fault. Something like this would happen whether the world was communist or capitalist. In both capitalism and communism it is illegal to tell someone one thing about their contract, and then disobey it the next day. The problem is no one feels like enforcing the law in China. Too many people are bought off, something that happens, again, in both Capitalism and Communism.