How is going to the new iPhone5 at Foxconn factory
A journalist from the Shanghai Evening Post China News Agency got a job at the Foxconn Tai Yuan factory under the guise of an ordinary worker. His task was to find out how to produce new smartphones iPhone 5.
At the Foxconn Tai Yuan factory in March, one of the largest workers ’strikes took place, and today there is a shortage of 20,000 employees. All this against the backdrop of a large order for the assembly of 57 million iPhone 5 per year put the plant management in difficult conditions.
The journalist stayed at the factory for only 10 days, of which he was trained for 7 days and only in the last three days he directly participated in the assembly.
The story is in the form of a journalist journalist.
Job seekers at Foxconn
I contacted a person from the personnel department who is responsible for hiring new employees and told him that I can work at Foxconn because I have no health problems and I have a passport. When I arrived at the factory, the guard at the entrance offered for 100-200 yuan ($ 15-28) to suggest a way to quickly get a job, bypassing the personnel department, but I ignored it. I was asked to complete a sanity test, there were about 30 questions with “Yes” or “No” answers about how I felt for the last 30 days. For example, one of the questions read - “Have you entered a trance state lately?”. Finally, after answering all the questions, we, along with other applicants, were put on a bus and taken to the Foxconn factory in Taiyuan.
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Fabirka Foxconn in Taiyuan
Foxconn Workers Hostel
The first night at the Foxconn hostel was nightmarish. When I entered the room I felt a terrible mixture of the smell of rubbish and sweat. Near the entrance to each room lay mountains of uncleaned garbage. When I opened the closet for clothes, crowds of cockroaches climbed out, and the sheet that they give out to every new worker was covered in dirt and ashes.
New employees during the selection of work
When I first had breakfast at the Foxconn dining room on the morning of the second day, I heard a deafening shout: “E ** t! Food sucks! Don't expect me to work overtime! ” Having come through, the same person said, already in a whisper, that he would break the bed in the dormitory before retiring, now it’s clear where the broken strips in my bed came from.
We were asked to sign an employment contract right in the dining room after breakfast. The contract emphasized four confidential areas, the dissemination of which was strictly prohibited: 1. All technical information; 2. Sales information; 3. Staff information; 4. Statistics on manufactured products. The contract said almost nothing about the processing and protection of the interests of the employee. In the section “Possible threats that may affect the worker during production,” the manager noted “No” near all points, including around “Loud noise” and “Toxic pollution”. I wonder if the work in production will be really safe for me.
Dining at the Foxconn factory
"Prison" bars on the windows of the hostel
The next day after the signing of the employment contract, we were gathered in the lobby and briefly told about the history of Foxconn, corporate policy and safety. The basic principle that lay in our heads - obey instructions. We were given checklists with a list of 13 ways to reward employees and about 70 ways of punishment. The manual was written - "Most likely, you will feel uncomfortable because of our methods of work, but this is all done for your good!". After that, we were offered to watch a film about the factory. When someone asked a question about suicide cases, the managers didn’t shy away from the answer, but they didn’t develop the topic. Someone noticed that poor living conditions increase the likelihood of suicide. I noticed that all the windows in the hostel are closed with bars resembling prison.
Working at Foxconn is stressful.
After completing the training, the first working shift fell at night. Before that, we were allowed to rest all day. From intense trainings and briefings, my head ached terribly and I asked to go to the polyclinic at the factory, but there was only one doctor in it who was simultaneously dealing with 4-5 patients. When I asked one of the nurses to complain about this service, one rudely replied to me - “Go and ask your boss!”.
Over the past seven days I have been to many of the Foxconn premises — the dorm, the dining room, the bathhouse, the entertainment complex, the gym, the hospital, the post office, the library, the shopping center, and so on. Service in most of them is free, but the quality is terrible everywhere. For example, in the entertainment complex, 2/3 of the gaming machines are faulty. In the so-called "cinema" show slides with photos of meeting rooms. The most interesting thing is that I did not find a place where I could buy beer, and also did not find a single bench or place for drying clothes.
At the weekend in the entertainment complex held discos for Foxconn employees. The microphones say: “We all experience stress every day and we are not allowed to shout at work. Here you can shout as loud as you can — we want you to relieve the tension! ” One of my roommates told me that he loved these discos and that he had found a girlfriend here.
Foxconn assembly line
At the entrance to the assembly shop hangs the plate "The highest secrecy zone." We were told that metal detectors were installed at the entrance and exit, and if anyone tried to carry any metal things — belt buckles, earrings, cameras, headsets, mp3 players, the alarm would work and this would be immediately dismissed. One of my neighbors in the hostel said that his friend was fired for trying to carry the charging cable. When I went through the frame in the assembly shop, I heard a loud sound of working mechanisms and a persistent smell of plastic. Our mentor warned - "Sit down and do only what they say to you." The mentor showed us the plastic back cover and said, "This is the back cover of a new, not yet released iPhone 5, you should be proud to be able to produce them."
Our production line was designed to cover the enclosures with protective films and plastic stoppers covering the headphone jacks and communication ports to protect the paint from getting into the next stage of production. Our mentor asked to wear face masks and goggles. At 23 o'clock we went to dinner, and after midnight we began to work. I was assigned to paint the dots with an oil pencil on the back of the iPhone 5 case. Many times they scolded me for making the dots too greasy. My neighbor had to apply a 5 mm protective film directly on the points that I drew. He was punished many times for doing so too slowly. Our mentor said that usually this work is done by women - their fingers are more dexterous, but because of a large personnel drain, they have no choice and therefore we have to work.
Most male workers have awkward fingers
The new back cover of the iPhone 5 appeared in front of me every 3 seconds, I lifted it, put four dots and put it back for 3 seconds, making no mistakes. After repeating such a procedure for several hours, my neck and arm muscles ached terribly. The same newcomer, like me, sitting opposite, was so tired that he lay down for a while from exhaustion. Mentor, noticing this, punished him in a corner for 10 minutes, just like in childhood. We had to work without stopping from midnight to 5 in the morning, but at 5 in the morning we still continued, because no one was allowed to stop work. I was very hungry and completely exhausted.
According to my calculations, at least 5 parts per minute passed through me, for every 10 hours I had to mark 3,000 rear covers. In total, the same operations are done on four parallel production lines, with 12 employees on each line. Each line produces 36,000 rear covers of the iPhone 5 in half a day, it is scary. I finished work at 7 am, we were asked to get together after work, the tutor started yelling at us - “Who wants to rest at 5 am !? We are all here to make money! Work better! ” I thought, who on earth would like to work two extra hours for only 27 yuan ($ 4) !?
Production line workers
The next day, the mentor worked on us with the same methods. Every time we took a part off the assembly line and brought it back we said “B *** b”, just to ease the stress. One of the old workers advised us to stop working at 5 am and refuse, even if the mentor persuades us to stay for recycling. Of the 36 newcomers, only two were lucky and they were assigned to work in the quality control department, where they were allowed to rest for 10 minutes every 2 hours. All the others, like me, worked without interruptions.
Original article in the Chinese newspaper
At the Foxconn Tai Yuan factory in March, one of the largest workers ’strikes took place, and today there is a shortage of 20,000 employees. All this against the backdrop of a large order for the assembly of 57 million iPhone 5 per year put the plant management in difficult conditions.
The journalist stayed at the factory for only 10 days, of which he was trained for 7 days and only in the last three days he directly participated in the assembly.
The story is in the form of a journalist journalist.
Day 1: Getting a job
Job seekers at Foxconn
I contacted a person from the personnel department who is responsible for hiring new employees and told him that I can work at Foxconn because I have no health problems and I have a passport. When I arrived at the factory, the guard at the entrance offered for 100-200 yuan ($ 15-28) to suggest a way to quickly get a job, bypassing the personnel department, but I ignored it. I was asked to complete a sanity test, there were about 30 questions with “Yes” or “No” answers about how I felt for the last 30 days. For example, one of the questions read - “Have you entered a trance state lately?”. Finally, after answering all the questions, we, along with other applicants, were put on a bus and taken to the Foxconn factory in Taiyuan.
')
Fabirka Foxconn in Taiyuan
Foxconn Workers Hostel
The first night at the Foxconn hostel was nightmarish. When I entered the room I felt a terrible mixture of the smell of rubbish and sweat. Near the entrance to each room lay mountains of uncleaned garbage. When I opened the closet for clothes, crowds of cockroaches climbed out, and the sheet that they give out to every new worker was covered in dirt and ashes.
Day 2: Conclusion of an employment contract
New employees during the selection of work
When I first had breakfast at the Foxconn dining room on the morning of the second day, I heard a deafening shout: “E ** t! Food sucks! Don't expect me to work overtime! ” Having come through, the same person said, already in a whisper, that he would break the bed in the dormitory before retiring, now it’s clear where the broken strips in my bed came from.
We were asked to sign an employment contract right in the dining room after breakfast. The contract emphasized four confidential areas, the dissemination of which was strictly prohibited: 1. All technical information; 2. Sales information; 3. Staff information; 4. Statistics on manufactured products. The contract said almost nothing about the processing and protection of the interests of the employee. In the section “Possible threats that may affect the worker during production,” the manager noted “No” near all points, including around “Loud noise” and “Toxic pollution”. I wonder if the work in production will be really safe for me.
Dining at the Foxconn factory
Days 3 to 6: Training
"Prison" bars on the windows of the hostel
The next day after the signing of the employment contract, we were gathered in the lobby and briefly told about the history of Foxconn, corporate policy and safety. The basic principle that lay in our heads - obey instructions. We were given checklists with a list of 13 ways to reward employees and about 70 ways of punishment. The manual was written - "Most likely, you will feel uncomfortable because of our methods of work, but this is all done for your good!". After that, we were offered to watch a film about the factory. When someone asked a question about suicide cases, the managers didn’t shy away from the answer, but they didn’t develop the topic. Someone noticed that poor living conditions increase the likelihood of suicide. I noticed that all the windows in the hostel are closed with bars resembling prison.
Day 7: Rest and getting started
Working at Foxconn is stressful.
After completing the training, the first working shift fell at night. Before that, we were allowed to rest all day. From intense trainings and briefings, my head ached terribly and I asked to go to the polyclinic at the factory, but there was only one doctor in it who was simultaneously dealing with 4-5 patients. When I asked one of the nurses to complain about this service, one rudely replied to me - “Go and ask your boss!”.
Over the past seven days I have been to many of the Foxconn premises — the dorm, the dining room, the bathhouse, the entertainment complex, the gym, the hospital, the post office, the library, the shopping center, and so on. Service in most of them is free, but the quality is terrible everywhere. For example, in the entertainment complex, 2/3 of the gaming machines are faulty. In the so-called "cinema" show slides with photos of meeting rooms. The most interesting thing is that I did not find a place where I could buy beer, and also did not find a single bench or place for drying clothes.
At the weekend in the entertainment complex held discos for Foxconn employees. The microphones say: “We all experience stress every day and we are not allowed to shout at work. Here you can shout as loud as you can — we want you to relieve the tension! ” One of my roommates told me that he loved these discos and that he had found a girlfriend here.
Day 8 to 10: Build iPhone 5
Foxconn assembly line
At the entrance to the assembly shop hangs the plate "The highest secrecy zone." We were told that metal detectors were installed at the entrance and exit, and if anyone tried to carry any metal things — belt buckles, earrings, cameras, headsets, mp3 players, the alarm would work and this would be immediately dismissed. One of my neighbors in the hostel said that his friend was fired for trying to carry the charging cable. When I went through the frame in the assembly shop, I heard a loud sound of working mechanisms and a persistent smell of plastic. Our mentor warned - "Sit down and do only what they say to you." The mentor showed us the plastic back cover and said, "This is the back cover of a new, not yet released iPhone 5, you should be proud to be able to produce them."
Our production line was designed to cover the enclosures with protective films and plastic stoppers covering the headphone jacks and communication ports to protect the paint from getting into the next stage of production. Our mentor asked to wear face masks and goggles. At 23 o'clock we went to dinner, and after midnight we began to work. I was assigned to paint the dots with an oil pencil on the back of the iPhone 5 case. Many times they scolded me for making the dots too greasy. My neighbor had to apply a 5 mm protective film directly on the points that I drew. He was punished many times for doing so too slowly. Our mentor said that usually this work is done by women - their fingers are more dexterous, but because of a large personnel drain, they have no choice and therefore we have to work.
Most male workers have awkward fingers
The new back cover of the iPhone 5 appeared in front of me every 3 seconds, I lifted it, put four dots and put it back for 3 seconds, making no mistakes. After repeating such a procedure for several hours, my neck and arm muscles ached terribly. The same newcomer, like me, sitting opposite, was so tired that he lay down for a while from exhaustion. Mentor, noticing this, punished him in a corner for 10 minutes, just like in childhood. We had to work without stopping from midnight to 5 in the morning, but at 5 in the morning we still continued, because no one was allowed to stop work. I was very hungry and completely exhausted.
According to my calculations, at least 5 parts per minute passed through me, for every 10 hours I had to mark 3,000 rear covers. In total, the same operations are done on four parallel production lines, with 12 employees on each line. Each line produces 36,000 rear covers of the iPhone 5 in half a day, it is scary. I finished work at 7 am, we were asked to get together after work, the tutor started yelling at us - “Who wants to rest at 5 am !? We are all here to make money! Work better! ” I thought, who on earth would like to work two extra hours for only 27 yuan ($ 4) !?
Production line workers
The next day, the mentor worked on us with the same methods. Every time we took a part off the assembly line and brought it back we said “B *** b”, just to ease the stress. One of the old workers advised us to stop working at 5 am and refuse, even if the mentor persuades us to stay for recycling. Of the 36 newcomers, only two were lucky and they were assigned to work in the quality control department, where they were allowed to rest for 10 minutes every 2 hours. All the others, like me, worked without interruptions.
Original article in the Chinese newspaper
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/151436/
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