Who is responsible for the Foxconn suicides?
Foxconn is to end condolence payments after 10 suicides on their premises. Is this a shift in their human resources policy that will see them aim to get ahead of this current problem at their Shenzhen plant to prevent it reoccurring? Or are they just taking a firmer line? Whichever it is, we must ask why these deaths occurred. Our demand for a wider choice of products in higher volumes on the high street has driven manufacturers to outsource and ‘offshore’ their production plants to low cost economies. Labour will always be the highest cost in any business, so if firms can keep it to a minimum, they can achieve significant cost savings to increase profit margins or (more likely) to offer products at lower and more competitive prices. This has led to the current trend in global manufacturing and supply chain management, with markets in the west and factories in the east. China has long been viewed as a low cost economy, with factories clustered in various regions to mass produce product
