The Forbidden City of Terry Gou 253
ElvaWSJ writes "Hon Hai churns out iPhones and Wiis, and provides a window into China's secretive world of outsourcing and manufacturing. With a work force of some 270,000 — about as big as the population of Newark, N.J. — the factory is a bustling testament to the ambition of Hon Hai's founder, Terry Gou. In an era when manufacturing has been defined by outsourcing, no one has done more to shift global electronics production to China. Little noticed by the wider world, Mr. Gou has turned his company into China's biggest exporter and the world's biggest contract manufacturer of electronics."
And unlike so many other Chinese Manufacturers (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Worker conditions (Score:5, Insightful)
Ok, humanitarian perspective aside. Those workers are now able to provide a their families 2 square meals a day. If companies stop using them, then they go hungry, continue living in slums and you pay more for your beloved techno-gadgets. Right now they are better off than they were earlier and you are happier since you can have the privilege of using an iPod and listening to your choice of music on the go. See win-win scenario...
Re:Worker conditions (Score:5, Insightful)
This is not to say that we nor they should be satisfied with their present lot in life, but rather to say that things are improving. Their economy is primitive by modern standards. It will grow, rapidly, and working conditions will improve - just like they did in our country.
The answer to helping these people advance is not to stop buying their products, which puts them right back where they were - with nothing. The answer is to continue to buy their products, which empowers them and gives them options.
Re:Worker conditions (Score:4, Insightful)
China moves slow traditionally but as they develop a real middle class, the lower class conditions will improve becaue of increased internal spending and more attitudes similiar to those in more developed nations.
Re:Worker conditions (Score:5, Insightful)
Interesting Plant Layout... (Score:3, Insightful)
National Chinese vs. Local Chinese (Score:3, Insightful)
Often the national Chinese government wants to clamp down on the factories but can't because they lack the resources to do so and are opposed by the factory's home government. (Similar to the U.S. EPA vs. city governments bought and sold by the local factory.)
Actually, the Chinese government is now more concerned about making sure China builds out its white collar jobs more now; the factories are doing fine on their own.
Even in the U.S., the government was quite active on the side of the factories during the Industrial Revolution - look up "strike riot united states" for taste of some of that.
As opposed to what? Living in mud huts making stone necklaces for each other?
Yes, it kind of did. Maybe it's time to hit the books a little harder...
Re:Worker conditions (Score:5, Insightful)
The point that stuck with me was that hordes of people flocked from the farms to the cities, because horrible as it may have seemed to us, it was still _better_ than the conditions they left behind. On the farms you toiled (men, women and children) from sunup to sundown 7 days a week. Conditions were no less dangerous; farm machines could kill you just as dead as machines in a factory. And on the farm if it didn't rain at the right time, or rained too much, or the bugs came your crop was wiped out and you starved. At least in the mills, as long as you could work you knew you were not going to starve. While "not starving to death" is a pretty minimum standard of living, it sure beats "maybe starving to death"
Re:And unlike so many other Chinese Manufacturers (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:And unlike so many other Chinese Manufacturers (Score:4, Insightful)
And that the Mattel recall (another American company that hired the Chinese toy company) also covered a heck of a lot more than one product- the recall was 5 PDF pages with pictures of hundreds of different products.
I wonder if the producer of all of those red & yellow Thomas the Tank Engines also killed himself? Or how about the Million Pounds of Fish [news-record.com] intended for human consumption that was subject to an import alert this week?
Re:Worker conditions (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Worker conditions (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Worker conditions (Score:4, Insightful)
If they were actually all getting better standards of living, we wouldn't be objecting on humanitarian grounds. Yes, they get a better standard of living, we get products. Everyone wins. The fact that they do it for a fraction of what it would cost here, I guess one lives with because it's an actual opportunity for them and they get to move up the economic ladder. Such things are relative to where you live.
But, when one hears stories about what is outright slavery, workers not getting paid at all, and all of that stuff, then one tends to be a little more worried about how ethical these products are. There are regular stories about appalling things happening in Chinese factories, as well as a lot of shady dealings from sub-sub contractors who nobody seems to be accounting for (like, lead in kids toys for instance).
Personally, I would like a little more assurance that the products I'm buying which are made in China actually have a little fairer labour practice than the worst case we tend to hear about. And, I don't think it's too unrealistic to basically tell the companies using these manufacturers that they really need to be sure of such things. I don't begrudge the workers a chance to make a living -- but, I do expect the parent companies to do more than the most superficial due-diligence to Do The Right Thing.
This is an unfortunate side effect of outsourcing (well, one of many) -- you really have no assurances that the people making the stuff you buy aren't being subject to really awful conditions.
Cheers
Re:Worker conditions (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd rather automate (Score:3, Insightful)
Give us our jobs back or let the machines take over.
Re:And unlike so many other Chinese Manufacturers (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:And unlike so many other Chinese Manufacturers (Score:3, Insightful)
*rolls eyes*
Unions protect the people at the low end at the expense of the people at the high end. There's no reason to perform well because you won't be payed more for it. In fact, because its so hard to fire you, you barely have to perform at all.
"Took our jobs"? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I'd rather automate (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:And unlike so many other Chinese Manufacturers (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No joke, do it! Learning Chinese is easy... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:And unlike so many other Chinese Manufacturers (Score:2, Insightful)
I can see how this setup would be useful for getting started; save the money you do make, since your basic needs are met. Once you save more, you can move on to better things.
I wasn't commenting on Ohio Arts or any other Chinese company; I don't know how good (or bad) they are to their employees. But this particular company seems to treat their employees better than others, so seems to be stepping in the right direction.