Hon Hai Group, the Taipei-based maker of products such as iPhones, is recruiting mental health professionals and building leisure facilities in its Chinese factories after at least seven employee suicides this year, reports “Bloomberg Businessweek” (http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-17/hon-hai-turns-to-counselors-monks-as-suicides-mount-update2-.html).
The company has deployed 100 counselors and its health division plans to work more closely with local governments and academic institutions to support its 800,000 workers in China, Edmund Ding, a spokesman at the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, also known as Foxconn Technology Group, told “Bloomberg” by phone. However, he didn’t comment on why workers may be taking their own lives.
The measures have purportedlyl prevented more than 30 suicide attempts, according to the company. The deaths underscore the need to improve the quality of life for Chinese factory workers, say groups including China China Labor Watch and China Labour Bulletin, notes “Bloomberg.”
