Assembly line suicides raise questions over work, life in technology giant
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Eleven leaps from high buildings and nine fatalities: the parallels between the repetitive nature of death and work at technology manufacturer Foxconn are raising questions over how much disciplinarian assembly lines aggravate mental problems among the staff.
The latest suicide happened when a worker plunged from the top of a four-storey building in south China's boom town of Shenzhen Friday, the same day the death of another Foxconn worker earlier this year at a north China plant was revealed.
The spate of suspected suicides has driven public debate about work and living conditions in the Taiwan-owned company, which produces high-tech gadgets for clients that include Apple, Sony Ericsson and Dell.
Nan Gang, a 21-year-old man, climbed to the top of a factory building in Foxconn's industrial complex in Longhua Township and fell to his death at 4:37 a.m., said Huang Jianwei, a spokesman of the Bao'an Police Station, of the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau.
An initial investigation has ruled out foul play in Nan's death and the municipal police and work safety authorities are still investigating the death.
The same day, the district government of Anci in Langfang City, Hebei Province, confirmed that Rong Bo, a 19-year-old man, jumped off the dormitory building in the Langfang plant on Jan. 8.
A female worker, 16-year-old Wang Lingyan, was found dead of natural causes on her dormitory bed on Feb. 23 in the Langfang plant.
The deaths brought to 11 the number of suspected suicide leaps by Foxconn staff this year, including 10 at the Shenzhen plant, where two survived.
