Another Foxconn employee committed suicide at its Shenzhen plant on May 25, the 11th such incident at the factory premises this year that has so far claimed nine lives. Two of the victims survived their treacherous fall.
The latest shocker, only four days after another worker jumped to his death, has come despite the Shenzhen government's probe into the matter, Foxconn setting up a psychological hotline for its workers and its chairman, Terry Guo (Guo Taiming), claiming that the factory was not a "sweatshop".
Yet reports of work conditions at the factory sound grim. Some 400,000 people work day and night in its 3-sq-km unit, with many choosing to work extra shifts and even round the clock to earn some extra bucks. If so, the employees rarely get adequate emotional support and there is nothing to look beyond working, eating and sleeping.
Terry Guo's sweeping claim does not go far enough.
Foxconn may not be a sweatshop in the sense that it physically abuses its employees or forces them to work extra hours. But that does not mean it is showing enough humanitarian concern for its employees. And, neither does it imply that it is doing enough to foster a corporate culture that helps employees strike a healthier work-life balance.
The real work conditions of its employees must be laid bare for all to see; only then will the public be able to analyze for themselves the rights and wrongs behind such a string of suicides at the workplace. The local government investigation will hopefully shed more light on the matter.