/ David Pescovitz / 12:42 pm Tue Nov 2, 2010

Inside a Chinese iPhone factory

Gadgetlab Wp-Content Gallery Joel-Johnson 500X Img 1069 01
Gadgetlab Wp-Content Gallery Joel-Johnson 500X Img 1077 01 Our old pal Joel Johnson just returned from China where he was working on a special feature about electronics manufacturing that will appear in a future issue of Wired. While there, he snapped some shots inside the Shenzhen factory of Foxconn, manufacturers of gadgets from Apple, Nokia, Hewlett-Packard, and other big names. More than 200,000 of the workers live on the factory campus. Workers sleep eight-deep in dorm rooms like the one seen above that Joel says is about the size of a two-car garage. At left is the netting installed around all the buildings after eleven suicides at the factory this year.
"Where the Workers Who Made Your iPhone Sleep At Night"

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  1. Conditions look pretty good. They’re a little dreary and probably hard to fathom for Americans or Europeans who are used to the idea that even the unemployed on public assistance get their own single family home and their own car.

    But these facilities look about the same or maybe a little better than most university dormitories I’ve seen in China (at most universities in China, undergrads sleep 8 to a room, masters candidates sleep 6 to a room and PhD candidates sleep 4 to a room–and the rooms are small). And they’re significantly better that the migrant worker dorms I’ve seen around construction sites and textile factories in China. They’re also much better than the rural conditions where most of these workers would probably be living if they weren’t working for Foxconn.

    Can they be improved further? Sure. And they probably will as the once seemingly unlimited Chinese labor force gains a better ability to demand better working and living conditions. But we’re not talking about Dickensian England here.

    1. who are used to the idea that even the unemployed on public assistance get their own single family home and their own car.

      This isn’t a true statement, not by the measure of the amount I draw on unemployment insurance. $274 a week nets you $1096 a month. No way on God’s green earth you can afford to eat, put gas, in your car, pay for car insurance, put gas in your car, and somehow also make a mortgage payment. You’re lucky if you can afford a studio apartment or even a cell phone on unemployment.

    2. They’re also much better than the rural conditions where most of these workers would probably be living if they weren’t working for Foxconn.

      So you are saying they should be grateful for having it this badly? I hope you realize that is the same bassackwards logic that has justified slavery and poverty for centuries.

      If most any product were made in the U.S.A. it would cost tons more. Not because of greed. But that is the true value of the work and the product created by that work.

      Remember: The PC revolution began in factories in the U.S. and only moved overseas when folks whined too much about high prices.

      My Atari 800 was made in California by folks who could get an a wage that allowed for a life back in the early 1980s.

      My Mac Mini is made in China by folks who live in conditions no American would tolerate.

      Sorry but this is a complex and painful dilemma any computer user has to face. But to say this is acceptable is very “white” of you.

  2. Shouldn’t we call them what they are, Slaves.

    If you are locked in a compound and they need nets to keep you from killing yourself, I don’t really think you are a “worker”.

    Ironic that the communists need trade unions.

    1. That’s probably because they’re not really Communists. If China really were a Communist society, they wouldn’t need to get paid, they could just take from the system and Foxconn wouldn’t be out trying to make a profit by paying low wages.

      That said, I’m not sure that “slaves” is really the best word for them either. While they may be stuck in the company store system, they do have freedom to work for another company and I’m sure that they have freedom to step outside periodically.

      Can I assume, since we’re being somewhat dramatic here tossing out the word slave, that you’ve stopped purchasing any Chinese manufactured goods in order to avoid being a part of the slavery system? If so, I’d like to have a little look through the computer you’re using just to make sure. And your shoes, which are probably made under worse conditions than Foxconn…

      1. Perhaps indentured servatude. But I don’t think that slave is that far off from this work camp senario we see in chinese factories.

        But I do avoid what chinese products are avoidable, sadly that is less and less.

        >Do we want people to start posting pictures of their homes or workplaces here in the good ol USA?

        It isn’t pretty but the number of places that house their employees in barracks is very low. basically just illegal sweatshops do that.

  4. How do these images compare to the average Chinese standard of living? Do we want people to start posting pictures of their homes or workplaces here in the good ol USA?

    I like that this location is detailed in photos, and is blowing up the internet today, but per Joel’s own admission they don’t even make apple stuff there anymore.

    http://gizmodo.com/comment/31764493

  5. damnit, this should be done by robots, not by humans. and the rising tide of prosperity generated by that machine labor should float everyone’s boats, not just the factory owners.

    how the hell do we get to the ideal of communism rather than the broken implementations we have in the real world?

    1. how the hell do we get to the ideal of communism rather than the broken implementations we have in the real world?

      You don’t? Pure uncorrupted communism is a Utopian fantasy just like the idea that we can just make robots do all the work today.

      1. You’re just saying that because it never ever ever worked in the past, you cynic. The trick is to kill all the bourgeoisie, and all the bourgeoisie sympathizers, and to root out and kill all the saboteurs and wreckers and intellectuals that don’t agree with you (and also the ones that don’t agree ardently enough) (and the ones with pretty girlfriends).

        And once you’ve murdered so much that you hardly feel like murdering at all anymore, then BAM! Worker’s Paradise, Baby.

    2. I live off that much a year. I own/maintain a car and live in a single family dwelling (apartment). Is it easy? No. I have no cell phone, only a land line, I have no TV, only internet and I only do things in my spare time that don’t cost money. My conditions are still much better then most of the world…

  6. Indentured servitude I can get behind. I know it might be seen as semantics, but it’s important to call things as they are. You should have less trouble avoiding Chinese labor in the future. As their employees move towards greater pay those jobs will be shipped offshore to the next paid-less, work-more, lots of labor society that large companies can find. Africa is certain to be front and center (See: manufacturing, US, 1980’s).

    “how the hell do we get to the ideal of communism rather than the broken implementations we have in the real world?” Only through Proletariat uprisings and overthrow of the Bourgeoisie. There’s a book about it. The problem seems to be when people are paid just enough to not grumble because they think they can eventually earn enough to join the upper ranks so they don’t want to help out people below them because they’re striving forward and not looking back (See: Republicans, Tea Party).

    1. Bad proles end up shooting their comrades in the back (Bolsheviks, for instance). Bad teabaggers do similarly, through ignoring others in their community in order to put themselves ahead. Dog eat dog, pretty much, on both sides of the political spectrum.

      Remember the non-partisan wisdom of Bill and Ted: “Be excellent to each other”.

  7. As Boingers hashed out in this previous thread (http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/03/att-threatens-custom.html), the suicide rate claim is misleading. Foxconn workers’ suicide rate is *below* that of the public in the US, UK, and Japan and about level with China’s. We can (and should) criticize Foxconn for a lot of things, but it is intellectually dishonest to portray a lower-than-average suicide rate as a symptom of Foxconn’s abusive conditions. To do so only undermines legitimate critcisms as well.

  8. Mccrum– No, it isn’t semantics. These words mean specific things. Throwing around words like “slavery” to label people who are not property and get wages diminishes the meaning of the word. Just like we shouldn’t use comparisons to Nazis without a clear correlation lest the word lose it’s meaning, we shouldn’t call people who are verifiably not enslaved “slaves”. As far as indentured servitude, that might be a bit strong as well. They’re certainly, far as I can tell, inside the company store system, but that’s not the same thing. Not to say these aren’t shitty conditions, but let’s not toss around words that don’t apply. It simply reduces the discussion to silliness.

    1. I fully agree, which is why I noted it might “seem” like semantics. Words are important and the web requires their correct use, since it’s all too easy to devolve into hysteria.

      However, doesn’t the company store system devolve into indentured servitude quickly? If one is dependent on the company for room (possibly board, I’m not sure how this firm works) and one has to stay in company housing, it’s easy to be forced into working there to pay the bill you’re creating in order to pay off the bill you already created.

      1. if the company store sell stuff using company currency, i know cyberpunk have a term for it. And that term is “wageslave”.

  9. I’m not saying this is admirable or anything, but those are identical to the dorms at the Chinese universities that I attended and taught at.

  10. Normally, I’d say those crowded conditions and suicide rate were an alarming example of corporate greed and oppression but, hey, I love the stuff they make and their lives don’t seem so bad compared to workers who make stuff I don’t like as much.

  11. Instead of worrying about the state of these emerging economies, AKA the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), imagine how worried they and other nations are about the declining state of the US? They’re depending on us to buy their products.

    Judging from the election results coming in, this country is moving in a conservative direction that won’t give a damn about safety nets for any of our citizens on the brink. There won’t be any jobs or dormitories here. Any help for the public will be branded as being “socialist.”

    As far as suicides are concerned, US veterans’ deaths outnumber military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    It’s easy to judge what others might be doing wrong.

  12. Some very interesting comments in here.

    I want to address #2 RedShirt77: Sure you can call them slaves, but that label would hold true for most jobs, including ones found in the West.

    Who actually owns their labour these days? Most lawyers don’t even own their own labour unless they are a partner in a firm… does this make them slaves? Also if your employer were to offer you dirt cheap rent as an incentive to work for them… would you take it? I think I would, after all I am only sleeping there and I am still fairly young. Most people working in factories such as these live in the dorm while fairly young, meet someone of the opposite sex, get married and rent a place and start a family (off campus)…

    Do you think working at Google is any better? There is something more honest about the dorms at Foxxcon… you have a curfew, you know the rules, you don’t jump off the side of the building… But if you’re at Google you are given the illusion of freedom, a bigger paycheque, you get ‘perks’ but they are all carefully designed to keep you captive… isn’t it all a carefully crafted illusion? At the end of the day you take home a cheque, while the company makes huge gains from your effort. What exactly is the thing that makes life more liveable? Is it pay? Is it the illusion of freedom? Who is a better slavemaster- the one who is brutally honest, or the one that will lie to your face?

    Next I don’t see how it’s ironic that a communist state would need trade unions… in fact I would be more shocked to see a communist country without them. Communism is about a rejection of centralized power– trade unions further that project by displacing power from a corporation (or the state) and putting influence in the hands of the workers…

    You need to start asking yourself the question: why do I find this offensive/depressing, etc… and is the life I am living now any better or different?

    1. What a bunch of over reactions.

      The difference between a wage earner that doesn’t own their own labour and a person in a “company town” or compound is pretty clear.

      These people don’t have the freedom to live where they please or the freedom to shop where they please. Slaves require room and board in order to survive. Getting pay that you must then hand back to your employer in order to get things like food etc isn’t really pay because you are not free to spend the money as you please.

      But maybe I’m wrong and their is a Jimmy Johns accross the street from teh compound.

      1. “These people don’t have the freedom to live where they please or the freedom to shop where they please.”

        Actually, from my experience (American living in China), you are wrong. They *do* have the freedom to live outside the compound, and to shop outside (on their few days off).

        The reason these workers live in the compound is simple: the room and board is either free, or vastly cheaper than living outside.

        At these big operations in Shenzhen or Dongguan (like Foxconn), the workers are typically working there to make as much money as they can as quickly as possible, period. They can make more if they cut expenses by living in the dorm and eating at the company cafeteria. Living in the dorm they also don’t have to spend time and money on transportation. They also get healthcare from the factory (or at least, from the larger outfits like Foxconn who make an attempt to follow the law).

        This is not the least unusual in China, in fact I think it’s the law. Most staffs at restaurants or hair salons, for example, live together in employer-provided apartments near their job, the employer pays for their meals and healthcare as well. They could live elsewhere if they wanted to, but then they would make much less money. And for them, it’s not so terrible to live together, most Chinese are much more accustomed to communal living arrangements than westerners are.

        1. Quality response. Thanks for that.

          My previous knowledge on the matter is from some that did tours of some of the worst places which did seem to be more company town like senarios where people get to leave once a month and suffer terrible workling conditions, but that doesn’t mean those represent the majority.

  13. That’s the kind of false equivalency I’m worried about, ryanrafferty. Let’s call stuff what it actually is. Well put. I won’t bore you with my rant about the villainization of the South.

    And yeah, they really aren’t much better than indentured servants. That said, most job situations suck anymore.

  14. Yeah, these totally look like the dorms I lived in in Taiwan when I went there for college. Although it was four people to a room in about half the space. Not actually that bad, you got used it it after a while.

    Yes, China is less wealthy than the US, but it is nearly impossible to judge as an outsider looking in. As Americans, we tend to have a rather privileged and entitled viewpoint. What I’d be more interested in would be interviews with the workers themselves.

  15. It’s easy for some here to be so accepting of other people working under conditions they themselves wouldn’t work under. That just makes it all the more likely that in fact they will, someday. Or else their kids will.

    Welcome to the permanent employer’s market. If you don’t like it, you’re free not to work under those conditions. Ah, the sweet taste of freedom!

  16. I’m an American who has been living in China for years, one of my best friends works in a factory. “Servitude”? “Slavery”? I don’t think so.

    Of course, factory conditions in such a huge country vary a lot, certainly some are hellholes. But Foxconn’s looks about average, or a little better than average for a large company in one of the big factory cities like Shenzhen or Dongguan.

    For many (probably most) of these factory workers, the living conditions in the factory dorm are in many ways significantly better than where they came from (usually small rural towns). Do they like living this way and working like robots? Of course not. But they do it because, by their standards, the money is great. They could not hope to make anything like that kind of money back in the rural hometown.

    I don’t think many workers at factories like this plan on doing this kind of work as a career. I think it’s much more typical that they take a job like this for a few years, and in that time just focus on working as many hours as they can. Doing this, they may earn enough money to buy a house for their parents back home. Or pay for their brother’s education. Or go back home afterwards and open their own little business.

    My factory worker buddy is actually pretty satisfied with his job. When I first met him, he was just out of high school, scraping by as a street vendor selling fruit. He’s been working at the same factory for some years now. He learned how to design injection molds, and got a promotion. He recently bought a small pickup truck. He’s doing pretty well for a guy from a rural town in a developing country, earning enough that soon he will get married. I’m sure he would find the notion that he is a slave very bizarre.

  17. As other comments have mentioned, this is pretty typical and not shocking in the least. I’m just surprised he was able to go in with his camera and take these. A few years back when I was in school, I took a class that was held in Shenzhen and Hong Kong that covered issues regarding migrant workers. We took a tour of some company in Shenzhen that made sim cards and we weren’t allowed to take ANY pictures. That place looked exactly like the Foxconn compound. In regards to the dorm situation, lots of immigrants in Chinese enclaves in the States live in similar set ups. A lot of the time they’ll have shift arrangements for sleeping, where 1 group uses the beds while the other is at work. Also, universities in China generally have dorm rooms that fit 8 students in bunk beds. For us Americans who cherish our personal space, it’s hard to understand being able to tolerate the lack of privacy and room.

    And in response to those calling this slavery… It’s not like these workers were taken from their villages in the dead of night and transported to the Foxconn compound with burlap sacks over their heads. They made the choice to get on the bus/ train to Shenzhen and get a factory job. A lot of migrant workers do this because even though they work ridiculous hours and get very little by way of compensation(by American standards) they still make considerably more than they would in the villages they come from. I’m not saying this is applicable to EVERY factory employee, but a lot of workers make the trip so they can send money back home to their families. It’s hard for westerners to understand that mindset because many white Americans/ Europeans are several generations if not completely removed from the notion of sacrificing personal comfort for the benefit of the family unit. It’s a completely different philosophy and we can’t judge or transplant western morals onto this system. To me it implies that these “ignorant” factory workers just don’t know any better, if they only knew what they could have, then they wouldn’t need to live in these situations. This is not to deny that exploitation occurs. That is a huge problem with migrant workers. But we have to give the workers some credit in making their own decisions.

  18. It’s my understanding that a lot of the cheap electronics for sale in the US come from Shenzhen (sp?). There are dozens of companies on Amazon and eBay selling items like HDMI cables for 10 cents or less – it’s partly competition, but if they can operate that competitively and still turn a profit (sure, on the other items that are marked up for this week at least)… well, what I’m getting at is that this stuff comes *extremely* cheaply out of Hong Kong. Frighteningly cheap… I always wonder about the lives of the factory workers. Also the types of chemicals and plastics and aromatic polycyclic hydrocarbons they are exposed to… I worry for them. I guess it’s silly. But they are human, too.

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