Foxconn, the manufacturing arm of the Taiwanese Hon Hai Precision Industrial Co is once again caught in the center of media attention in China. Over the weekend reports appeared saying that two workers had jumped off a building at Foxconn's Shenzhen plant.
On the Friday morning the 29, photos and posts appeared on China's twitter like microblogging service, Sina Weibo, which two Foxconn employees had jumped off a building due to concerns over job security. Most reports say that three workers climbed up to the roof of the G14 building at Foxconn Shenzhen. One cited source said that the workers climbed up because they were worried about their jobs. Foxconn has seen a decline in orders since the first few months of this year. Due to the decline the company has started using various methods to get rid of workers.
The first and most quoted report came from a reporter at Guangdong Tv called Feng Junxiang. However Feng's microblog shows zero posts and any attempts to reach Feng has been unsuccessful. Despite the mysterious nature of the original reports Foxconn has come out with a statement of sorts. According to a report from the People's Daily a Foxconn spokesperson named Liu Kun denied such incidents had occurred.
The fact that Foxconn has come out to refute the event provides some merit to the stories brewing up about the company. Recent reports about Foxconn say that the company has started to lower employee wages. It is also reported that Foxconn has taken away and started charging employees for once free services.
Foxconn, best known for making Apple products has shot to infamy in recent years over suicides at it's China manufacturing plants. The first recorded incidents of the suicides occurred in 2010 in it's Shenzhen factories. Foxconn produces and assembles many of our favorite electronics products such as the Nintendo Wii U.
[网传富士康发生工人跳楼事件 富士康方面否认] [People's Daily]
[富士康回应否认一天发生两起跳楼事故] [PC Online via Donews.com]
[深圳富士康今早发生两起跳楼事件 疑因裁员引起] [Phoenix Online]
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.