Dark Clouds - To the Cloud: Big Data in a Turbulent World - page 162

stacked with bunk beds. Use of high-energy appliances, such as hair
dryers, kettles, and, ironically, laptop computers, was prohibited, and
workers who used them risked their coniscation until they were no
longer working for the company.
Nevertheless, it became increasingly obvious that the supply chain was
fraying. When Apple tightened pressure to meet iPhone production sched-
ules, Foxconn resorted to more extreme measures, such as drafting high
school students to work as unpaid interns for the company. For example,
the government of a nearby province sent students by the thousands to
labor for a month or so at the Shenzhen plant. Students were given the
choice of obeying or dropping out of school. Some complained, but not
wanting to ruin whatever hope they had for a career, most complied
(Perlin 2011, 191-196). This practice continued well into 2013, when the
company, faced with strong evidence, admitted to employing students and
forcing them to work overtime and through the night (Mishkin 2013).
Nevertheless, this does not appear to be a long-term solution, as public-
ity blows back against the Western irms that contract with companies
engaging in these practices. Indeed, in 2013 HP and Apple responded
to revelations about student labor by announcing limits on student and
temp work in China (Bradsher and Barboza 2013). Apple also tried to
diversify production by contracting with one of Foxconn's competitors,
but that company too was charged with numerous labor code violations,
including employing underage workers (Osborne 2013).
Foxconn responded to global protests with two substantial changes.
First, it moved factories away from increasingly militant urban centers like
Shenzhen and into less populated regions, especially to western China,
where it expected that workers would be more malleable and information
about working conditions would be less likely to reach beyond China's
borders. Second, in a complete reversal of corporate policy, Foxconn
supported the formation of trade unions at its factories. Although it was
unclear how the unions would be organized, most people believed that
the company would control them (Jacob 2013). Nevertheless, wages are
beginning to rise, and even if the prospect of unions does not increase
worker power, it is likely to raise wage rates. Meanwhile, the company was
hit by strike actions against several of its facilities in China (Tang 2013).
All of these moves suggest that Foxconn is in trouble. It beneited for a
few years from drawing immigrant labor into China's booming cities and