Lessons from Foxconn Suicides

I doubt there’s any way to calculate work-related suicides in the U.S. Most people don’t kill themselves at work, although something at work may have been the final straw for an employee dealing with other problems as well: family, debt, mental illness, etc. The growing number of suicides at Foxconn Technology in China has been in the news lately, and employers in this country should pay attention. The U.S. economic downturn, fear of a global economic collapse, continuing layoffs, reduced hours, increased job duties, and furloughs translate into a lot of troubled people.

Foxconn is possibly the world’s biggest electronics maker, supplying companies like Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard. It has 800,000 employees, most of whom are paid $32 for a 40-hour workweek. A lot of employees live in dormitories at the factories, so Foxconn’s workers do kill themselves at work. Many of them have moved from rural areas to the big city to find jobs — a move so dramatic that I’m not sure there’s any comparable experience in this country. Foxconn’s regimented operations, according to some, are so well-oiled “that no worker will rest even one second during work.”

One Foxconn executive was perhaps more candid than he intended to be: “There is a fine line between productivity and regimentation and inhumane treatment.” He quickly added, “I hope we treat our workers with dignity and respect.” If there’s a fine line between working and inhumane treatment at a company, it’s unlikely that employees there are treated with dignity and respect.

An employer isn’t responsible for all employee troubles. An employer is responsible for providing reasonable and safe working conditions. Complying with that responsibility helps the employer just as much as it helps the employees. The gap between a company’s profits and its people seems to grow wider in some workplaces. All most employees want is to be treated with dignity and respect.