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by fireattack 2900 days ago
The Foxconn manufacturing factories in China are NOT sweatshops, not even close. My hometown (Zhengzhou) has one of its biggest factory, and for people who have no higher education (like straight out of highschool), it's a super competitive job. People literally bribe to get in. Sure, it's still a soul-draining blue collar job, but they follow laws (for an enterprise in Foxconn's scale, they are strictly supervised by the government and the media. The smaller companies on the other hand, are actually more likely to be sweatshops), they follow schedules, provide food and dorms, and a good enough salary by local's standard of living. What else do you expect for a low-skill entry-level jobs, in a developing country?

Calling hard-working people in developing country (my homeland) "slaves" just because they don't get paid the same as Americans is one of the most hypocritical thing I am really tired to hear on Western forums.
2 comments
zamalek 2900 days ago
McDonald's for McDonald's I was paid better in South Africa than I am in America for the same job in the same company. I earn 3 times more dollar-for-dollar, a competitive rate for the region I'm now in. South Africa is regarded in an honest way as cheap labour (but in this case: highly skilled) but those employees live in the top percentage of upper-middle class for the region.

America is extremely expensive to live in, so "westerners" don't really have a grasp of just how far a single USD goes elsewhere in the world.

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fjsolwmv 2900 days ago
America is expensive because the quality of life is higher than in China or USA. Some parts of Europe are higher. There is a very strong correlation between quality of life and cost of living.
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pywh 2896 days ago
Spent some time working in Zhengzhou back in 2010/11, Foxconn paid significantly better (3x in some positions) than other factories. Parent comment is spot-on re: Foxconn job competitiveness.

A lot of the locals I got to know resented Western, media-driven interference in their jobs, they wanted to work longer hours, make more money, etc. They also resented being presented as helpless indentured servants. A lot of them were (are?) proud of their job.

Not applauding the labor practices, just an additional anecdata-point.

[Edited for: data -> anecdata]

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