Well, it seems that Apple has been under fire in the press recently for poor working conditions in China. Apple didn’t state which article(s) alleged these wrongs. We did a little investigation and found one Marticle by the MailOnSunday, a UK newspaper. Apple conducted an investigation of it’s own, and we also have their findings below.

The newspaper article was entitled The stark reality of iPod’s Chinese factories. This is what they stated in the article:

• Most iPods are made in China.
• The factory they visited was in Longhua, just 20 miles from Hong Kong, run by a company called Foxconn.
• A huge factory which 200,000 people work and sleep.
• Huge billboards near the entrance invite those over 16 to apply at the factory.
• There were employee reports that 1) they work for long hours 2) are forced to do overtime 3) and work very long hours.
• One employee worked for 15 hours a day earned only $51.14 a month.

This was in part the most shocking details from the factories itself. However, Apple released it’s own investigation conducted on the same plant. Apple brought a team of legal and human resources professionals to the plant.

They randomnly selected 100 employees which were made up of line workers (83%), supervisors (9%), executives (5%), and other support personnel (3%). The team painstakingly reviewed claims with the employees logs to verify claims.

This is what they found:

• Did not find any forced or child labour present at the plant.
• While the plant had a capacity of 200,000 employees less than 15% (30,000) of that capacity actuall work there.
• Employees were pleased with the amount and quality of food provided.
• No violations of Code of Conduct were found in dorms.
• However, the team was not pleased with the living conditions of 3 off the site dorms. Two of these contained too many beds in an open area, and one had triple bunks. Apple felt this was impersonal.
• Found no forced overtime.
• The team did find that employees were working long hours. 35% would work longer than 60hrs/week, while 25% would work more than 6 days in a row.
• Every line worker was interviewed and only two had been disciplined by being forced to stand at attention.
• The rest did not witness any form of objectionable punishment.

Apple has stated that it will fix each of these problems. They have already put measures in place to fix each one. You can read their full release here.

Apple, like many tech companies have seen the profit by having factories and workers in Asia. It’s really up to us to decide whether those at these plants have been mistreated or live in conditions that are unfit from the facts provided here.

Apple did find problems but it seems that these are a minimum. The press often likes to run away with a story. Is this the case with MailOnSunday? I can’t say so, because I didn’t see the factory the way their reporters did and I didn’t talk to the employees, but I can’t rule out the possibility.

It seems that there were some problems, and Apple is moving forward to rectify each one. It’s a little sad to see that an investigation came out of this because of a story in the press. Hopefully Apple does have these investigations taking place each year at their factories regardless of news articles. It is not only good business, but also good practice.

Apple has had a fine reputation. I doubt that this will ruin it. The iPod is a huge success and a cherished gadget for those the world over. Let’s hope that we don’t continue to hear stories like this.And I’m sure that a company like Apple will ensure that this doesn’t occur again.