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Given how many times it's been said and how sensible the question is, would you have a source for that?

by tajen 9y ago

jdietrich 9y ago
It's simple maths. In the worst year for suicides, Foxconn had 14 deaths out of 930,000 workers. Divide one by the other and you get a remarkably low suicide rate by any standard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides
- vacri 9y ago
  It's not 'simple maths'. Those are 'on-campus suicides', not 'all suicides in the demographic'. Your own link also points out that suicides are mostly elderly rural people, which doesn't line up with the Foxconn worker demographic.
- random023987 9y ago
  > It's simple maths. In the worst year for suicides, Foxconn had 14 deaths out of 930,000 workers. Divide one by the other and you get a remarkably low suicide rate by any standard. You need to take it one step further; you should compare it to the suicide rate of healthy, employed young adults. If (for example) the suicide rate is higher than employed adults, but comparable to unemployed, it would show a serious problem at the factory. In many industrialized countries suicide rates are not spread equally across all demographic groups.
  - valuearb 9y ago
    What is the suicide rate for young adults stuck working brutal rural farm jobs? Because that's what most of Foxconn employees waiting in line to escape.
- peterwwillis 9y ago
  From the article: "There were 18 reported suicide attempts that year alone and 14 confirmed deaths. Twenty more workers were talked down by Foxconn officials." Then, "Foxconn CEO, Terry Gou, had large nets installed outside many of the buildings to catch falling bodies. The company hired counsellors and workers were made to sign pledges stating they would not attempt to kill themselves." "In 2012, 150 workers gathered on a rooftop and threatened to jump. They were promised improvements and talked down by management; they had, essentially, wielded the threat of killing themselves as a bargaining tool. In 2016, a smaller group did it again. Just a month before we spoke, Xu says, seven or eight workers gathered on a rooftop and threatened to jump unless they were paid the wages they were due, which had apparently been withheld. Eventually, Xu says, Foxconn agreed to pay the wages and the workers were talked down." "The body-catching nets are still there."
  - DanBC 9y ago
    Nets are a useful suicide prevention measure, and I work quite hard to get them installed in UK multi-story carparks. (Without much success.) If you can't fit nets you should consider other methods - one multi-storey carpark in England closed the whole top floor. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/suicide-prevention-suicides-in-public-places https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/suicide-preventio...

Given how many times it's been said and how sensible the question is, would you have a source for that?

by tajen 9y ago

Given how many times it's been said and how sensible the question is, would you have a source for that?

It's simple maths. In the worst year for suicides, Foxconn had 14 deaths out of 930,000 workers. Divide one by the other and you get a remarkably low suicide rate by any standard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides

vacri 9y ago
It's not 'simple maths'. Those are 'on-campus suicides', not 'all suicides in the demographic'. Your own link also points out that suicides are mostly elderly rural people, which doesn't line up with the Foxconn worker demographic.
random023987 9y ago
> It's simple maths. In the worst year for suicides, Foxconn had 14 deaths out of 930,000 workers. Divide one by the other and you get a remarkably low suicide rate by any standard. You need to take it one step further; you should compare it to the suicide rate of healthy, employed young adults. If (for example) the suicide rate is higher than employed adults, but comparable to unemployed, it would show a serious problem at the factory. In many industrialized countries suicide rates are not spread equally across all demographic groups.
- valuearb 9y ago
  What is the suicide rate for young adults stuck working brutal rural farm jobs? Because that's what most of Foxconn employees waiting in line to escape.
peterwwillis 9y ago
From the article: "There were 18 reported suicide attempts that year alone and 14 confirmed deaths. Twenty more workers were talked down by Foxconn officials." Then, "Foxconn CEO, Terry Gou, had large nets installed outside many of the buildings to catch falling bodies. The company hired counsellors and workers were made to sign pledges stating they would not attempt to kill themselves." "In 2012, 150 workers gathered on a rooftop and threatened to jump. They were promised improvements and talked down by management; they had, essentially, wielded the threat of killing themselves as a bargaining tool. In 2016, a smaller group did it again. Just a month before we spoke, Xu says, seven or eight workers gathered on a rooftop and threatened to jump unless they were paid the wages they were due, which had apparently been withheld. Eventually, Xu says, Foxconn agreed to pay the wages and the workers were talked down." "The body-catching nets are still there."
- DanBC 9y ago
  Nets are a useful suicide prevention measure, and I work quite hard to get them installed in UK multi-story carparks. (Without much success.) If you can't fit nets you should consider other methods - one multi-storey carpark in England closed the whole top floor. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/suicide-prevention-suicides-in-public-places https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/suicide-preventio...