Managers at the Foxconn factory in China are struggling to maintain calm after another employee attempted suicide.
The electronics worker tried to cut his wrists just hours after the death of another of the company’s employees. In total, 11 workers at Foxconn have committed suicide since January.
Managers at Foxconn are now said to be panicking and have asked their 350,000-strong workforce to sign a pledge that they would seek medical help if they were ever overcome by suicidal thoughts, the Times has reported.
The firm has also started to play soothing music on the factory floor, has recruited hundreds of dance instructors and established a suicide hotline.
Foxconn has now revealed it is also planning to raise wages for its workers by around 20%, the Financial Times has reported.
Many staff at Foxconn are made to stand in the same position for 12-hour shifts and receive a salary equivalent to about £90 a month.
The deaths are said to have occurred due to the poor working conditions at the plant, and Foxconn’s clients – including Sony, Apple, Dell and Hewlett Packard – are now investigating how their products are being manufactured.
Terry Gou, the chairman of Foxconn, said he was unable to sleep in fear of receiving another call informing him of another death at the factory.
