Foxconn accused of using illegal student labor to build Apple's iPhone X
Apple's main assembly partner, Foxconn, has been demanding illegal overtime from high school interns in its production of the iPhone X, a report charged on Tuesday.
Six of the students -- aged 17 to 19 -- said they regularly work 11-hour days on the iPhone X at a factory in Zhengzhou, in violation of Chinese law for interns, according to the Financial Times. The students added that they're with a group of 3,000 students from Zhengzhou Urban Rail Transit School, who were sent to the Foxconn factory in September and told that a three-month internship was required to graduate.
"We are being forced by our school to work here. The work has nothing to do with our studies," said one student, who explained she assembles up to 1,200 iPhone X cameras per day and is actually planning to become a train attendant.
Both Apple and Foxconn admitted to learning of students working illegal overtime, but promised they were taking action to fix the situation.
Apple said it "confirmed the students worked voluntarily, were compensated and provided benefits," even if "they should not have been allowed to work overtime." Foxconn echoed this position, saying "all work was voluntary and compensated appropriately, [but] the interns did work overtime in violation of our policy."
A long-term Foxconn worker told the Times that the company's need for seasonal workers was greater this year. Another source remarked that the education ministry of Henan province sent notices to all vocational schools, asking them to send their "work experience students" to Foxconn -- reflecting the Henan's government's desire to keep Foxconn happy.
"Henan province does everything in its power to make sure Foxconn thrives here. It's not just about tax revenues -- it's about industrial upgrading, building an export industry, having a foreign partnership [with Apple]," a local official commented.
Apple regularly audits its supply chain, but has often discovered excessive overtime and/or underage workers. Between August and December, Foxconn in particular is often under intense pressure to meet iPhone production quotas, and will recruit hundreds of thousands of extra laborers -- including students. Being unusually difficult to assemble, the iPhone X has caused extra trouble, and may be to blame for a 39 percent year-over-year decrease in net profits during the September quarter.
Six of the students -- aged 17 to 19 -- said they regularly work 11-hour days on the iPhone X at a factory in Zhengzhou, in violation of Chinese law for interns, according to the Financial Times. The students added that they're with a group of 3,000 students from Zhengzhou Urban Rail Transit School, who were sent to the Foxconn factory in September and told that a three-month internship was required to graduate.
"We are being forced by our school to work here. The work has nothing to do with our studies," said one student, who explained she assembles up to 1,200 iPhone X cameras per day and is actually planning to become a train attendant.
Both Apple and Foxconn admitted to learning of students working illegal overtime, but promised they were taking action to fix the situation.
Apple said it "confirmed the students worked voluntarily, were compensated and provided benefits," even if "they should not have been allowed to work overtime." Foxconn echoed this position, saying "all work was voluntary and compensated appropriately, [but] the interns did work overtime in violation of our policy."
A long-term Foxconn worker told the Times that the company's need for seasonal workers was greater this year. Another source remarked that the education ministry of Henan province sent notices to all vocational schools, asking them to send their "work experience students" to Foxconn -- reflecting the Henan's government's desire to keep Foxconn happy.
"Henan province does everything in its power to make sure Foxconn thrives here. It's not just about tax revenues -- it's about industrial upgrading, building an export industry, having a foreign partnership [with Apple]," a local official commented.
Apple regularly audits its supply chain, but has often discovered excessive overtime and/or underage workers. Between August and December, Foxconn in particular is often under intense pressure to meet iPhone production quotas, and will recruit hundreds of thousands of extra laborers -- including students. Being unusually difficult to assemble, the iPhone X has caused extra trouble, and may be to blame for a 39 percent year-over-year decrease in net profits during the September quarter.
Comments
This is joke, in the US, interns work for free all the time and work long hours for no pay this is not new. Internships are the worse idea ever. All kinds of industries in the US hire students do not pay them, work them long hours and tell them it's about the experience not the money.
So a bunch of idiots are complaining the Chinese are doing exactly what the US has been doing for years and now that is a problem. Why aren't these people standing up for the poor college students in the US who work for no pay just the experience.
be upset that a country abused their workers. Never heard that before.
Because nobody will care.
Neither the media care about interns in China. They only care about clicks, and in this case they will get plenty from both Android & Apple crowd. This’s why the modern media is so lousy and nobody care about it as much as in the past. Many blame internet but it’s they themself who nailed their own coffins.
Yes it is the same thing. It is not like it is poorly educated kids who did not know better or were pulled off the farms in the country. These are college students they should know better. Internships are specifically set up for companies and the government to get fee labor under the guise of a learning experience. I know this subject very well, I went to one of the few Universities who had mandatory co-op programs for their students which companies were required to pay students verse getting free labor. Guess what we got the learning experience and got paid and paid well. No one got a free ride. What I find interesting is the media and government in the US employee more free interns than any industry in the US. This is just another example of the media industry needing to in look inside before they look outside for problems that need to be fixed.
Shame on anyone who supports this.
Result; the media articles about poor tech labor conditions that are widely reported AFAIK are about Apple.