Foxconn announces wage rise just one month before Shenzhen increases minimum wage
28 May 2010In response to widespread criticism of working conditions at its factories in China, Foxconn announced on 2 June that it is raising the wages of its Chinese workforce by an average of 30 percent.
“We hope the hike in wages will help improve the living standards of the workers and allow them to have more leisure time, which is good for their health,” an unnamed Foxconn official in told AFP in Taipei.
The announcement came a week after Li Ming, spokesman for the Shenzhen Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, revealed that the city would increase its minimum wage on 1 July this year.
The exact figure will be announced later this month, Mr Li told the Shenzhen media on Wednesday 26 May. However, the Shenzhen government had earlier committed itself to an increase of “at least ten percent” in the minimum wage this year, and following an average increase of 20 percent in neighbouring Guangdong on 1 May this year, the actual amount will probably be around 20 percent, the same level as initially offered by Foxconn.
As such, after 1 July, Foxconn will still only be paying its Shenzhen workers a basic salary only slightly above the minimum wage. The current minimum wage level is 1,000 yuan per month inside the Special Economic Zone and 900 yuan per month outside the SEZ, where Foxconn’s Longhua facility is located.
“We hope the hike in wages will help improve the living standards of the workers and allow them to have more leisure time, which is good for their health,” an unnamed Foxconn official in told AFP in Taipei.
The announcement came a week after Li Ming, spokesman for the Shenzhen Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, revealed that the city would increase its minimum wage on 1 July this year.
The exact figure will be announced later this month, Mr Li told the Shenzhen media on Wednesday 26 May. However, the Shenzhen government had earlier committed itself to an increase of “at least ten percent” in the minimum wage this year, and following an average increase of 20 percent in neighbouring Guangdong on 1 May this year, the actual amount will probably be around 20 percent, the same level as initially offered by Foxconn.
As such, after 1 July, Foxconn will still only be paying its Shenzhen workers a basic salary only slightly above the minimum wage. The current minimum wage level is 1,000 yuan per month inside the Special Economic Zone and 900 yuan per month outside the SEZ, where Foxconn’s Longhua facility is located.