According to numerous press reports, Foxconn, the Chinese tech company responsible for the manufacture of the iPad, has seen 13 employees commit suicide so far this year. Every news report I have seen has implied that the pressure to produce the iPad has turned the company into a sweat shop, creating a high-pressure work environment that drives people to suicide. The press has been making comparisons between Apple and other American companies who, in the past, have taken advantage of foreign workers as a means of boosting profits regardless of working conditions.
According to the World Health Organization, the annual suicide rate in China per 100,000 people is 13.0 for men and 14.8 for women. Foxconn employs a total of 800,000 people. You would expect that over the course of an entire calender year, the company should average 104 (13x8) suicides for men and just under 120 (14.8x8) suicides for women.
Based on the cultural average, the company should have seen 52 men and 60 women commit suicide so far this year. So my question is: why is the media making such a big deal over a relatively low number of suicides? Foxconn should be getting a commendation for having such a low suicide rate, not being lambasted by an ignorant press with accusations of being some sort of sweat shop.
And trying to throw mud on Apple over this? I don't believe I've seen worse business reporting in my lifetime. Getting some details wrong is to be expected; no news organization is perfect. But this? Un-frickin'-believable. While I commend some media outlets such as ZDNet.com for calling bullshit on the way this story has been reported, I lost a lot of respect for a lot of news outlets over the gleeful sensationalism with which they have followed this story.
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