300 XBox 360 Factory Employees Threaten Mass Suicide

[6souls]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7030/6...81166e53ca.jpg

When some of the hidden, real-world costs of the gaming industry we love come to light, it can be a little difficult to digest. In 2011, allegations of poor working conditions at L.A. Noire developer Team Bondi contributed to that studio’s financial doom and eventual closure later in the year.

Now we’ve gotten yet another glimpse behind the curtain, this time into the manufacturing side of things: according to a post on GamesIndustry, 300 employees at a Chinese factory working on constructing Xbox 360 consoles recently threatened mass suicide over poor conditions and broken promises.

The post explains that the workers were offered a choice between continuing to work at the plant, owned by electronics-manufacturing giant Foxconn, or being dismissed with compensation. After many employees took the latter option, the compensation offer was yanked away.

To protest Foxconn’s alleged deception, 300 workers moved to the roof of the plant and threatened group suicide. Apparently the situation became so dire that the mayor of Wuhan, the province in which the factory is located, had to come and try to talk the workers down.

As the post points out, Foxconn has been the subject of much scrutiny over the last few years because of the number of high-end products they make for Western consumers, as well as a spate of actual suicides by workers who were making Apple devices. To combat the phenomenon, the factory installed nets.

An interesting investigation of Foxconn’s factories and conditions by one writer in a Wired article from last year helps to shed some light on the source of the gadgets we all enjoy, and provides some real food for thought.

The post notes that Microsoft has yet to comment on this most recent incident, but offered a quote back in 2010 after similar problems at plants making their devices had arisen.

“Foxconn has been an important partner of ours and remains an important partner,” said Microsoft’s Phil Spencer. “I trust them as a responsible company to continue to evolve their process and work relationships. That is something we remain committed to—the safe and ethical treatment of people who build our products. That’s a core value of our company.”

It remains to be seen what, if any, Microsoft will say or do to respond to what happened in Wuhan.

At this point, it’s impossible to claim ignorance about the source of our products. At the end of the 20th century, American companies began to send manufacturing jobs overseas, driving costs down and revenues up. That has meant less expensive goodies for us, but with lost manufacturing jobs in the United States. The effect was similarly double-sided in Asia: there are way more jobs there, but the demands of those jobs have kept conditions and pay below what they would be for the rest of the world.

It’s a conundrum in many ways…if manufacturing were brought back to the US, the cost of production would go up, and would likely result in higher costs for goods. But at the same time, the American manufacturing landscape would bloom and more people would have money in their pockets to actually buy things.

Another interesting Wired article tackles the issue of overseas manufacturing, and how American companies are starting to shift back to making things stateside. According to that article, overseas manufacturers seem to value quantity over quality, resulting in more incidences of defective products. That means American companies who thought they were saving money by outsourcing their manufacturing to other countries are suddenly paying exponentially higher, repeated shipping fees to compensate and replace the defective products—and with oil prices rising all the time, their outsourcing-based savings started to disappear.

http://www.insidegamingdaily.com/201...er-conditions/
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...n-mass-suicide
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/0...linchina/all/1
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/0...namerica/all/1

[Rhinox]

Goddamn lol.

This is the world Ron Paul wants us to live in.

[Zetanio]

RE RED RING OF DEATH, RE COMMIT SUICIDE

[Callisto]

I recall reading an article a few weeks ago bitching that we'll have to pay higher prices for shoes and shit because of the movement in China to start paying near-human wages

[Rhinox]

Great. Maybe Jobs would start coming back and we could afford to pay those higher prices

[Churchill]

I forgot, shoes cost so much money to make that they'll just have to raise the cost rather than take a hit to the bottom line.

Seriously, sneakers cost 120$ to make.

[Callisto]

Great. Maybe Jobs would start coming back and we could afford to pay those higher prices

Fucking dear lord this. My company gets a ton of components made in China, and shockingly enough our return rate for defective materials went from like 5% to like 25% the last year.

[aurik]

Don't worry, they'll just move the production to india or africa or something.

[Rhinox]

Well that thought was good while it lasted. thanks for snapping me back into reality.

[Callisto]

Yeah that's kinda what I figured, though then they have to deal with pirates and shit lol.

[Drakath]

That's really sad to read. I just have trouble wrapping my around such a large group of people linked together through their employment all agreeing to suicide. I don't even think I can begin to imagine how unhappy their lives must be. And so many of us think we have it bad.

[Callisto]

You know there's at least one guy who'd count to three with everyone then not jump lol

[Darus Grey]

The hilarious part is just how little prices would have to rise to give all these workers better conditions. $1 extra per xbox would probably be enough to double or triple the working conditions of these workers.

Of course that will never happen, because they'll just pocket the $1 instead.

[boo]

This........ is.......... SPARTA......................!

[BerenTebogo]

God dammit, came in here ready to make a ring of death joke.

[Zetanio]

God dammit, came in here ready to make a ring of death joke.

[kuronosan]

lol outsourcing

[Rhyis.]

Will 300 Chinese people really be missed? Let's be honest here.

[Kuya]

They are engaging in a form of asymmetrical warfare against us

[Byrthnoth]

>:/ This is what we get for outsourcing to a communist country. Obviously they understand nothing about how the free market dictates they should assemble X-bawxs all day.