Modern Exploitation at Foxconn 1

MODERN EXPLOITATION AT FOXCONN

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 Modern Exploitation at Foxconn 2

Modern Exploitation at Foxconn

Introduction

According to Caruana et al. (2021), modern slavery is a term that is currently under

growing interest, describing it as a term that describes severe forms of labour exploitation.

The aspect of modern slavery has been a concern for some time, given the considerable

interest, especially in the current modern world. It is also crucial to note that modern slavery

has been an issue of consideration to policymakers, having been noted to have been involved

in the development of the California Transparency in Supply Chain Act (2010) in the U.S.

and further Modern Slavery Act (2015) in the U.K. These strategies have been considered in

a bid to reduce the aspect of modern slavery but it keeps increasing. This can be noted in

Foxconn alias Hon Hai Technology Group, which is the world’s largest electronics

manufacturer. Failure to address the issue is of concern, given that a consistent increase

means more exploitation and a return to the olden world where slavery was acknowledged as

a means to advance production. The normalisation of slavery is the key issue under concern

noting that since the world civilisation era that LeBron et al. (2021) acknowledge its

existence in the current contemporary world. It is also prudent to acknowledge the root cause,

including poverty and lack of legislation.

The fundamental question is, if indeed slavery ended, why is modern slavery still an

issue of concern in the contemporary world? Why is the current capital production system

still isolating and dehumanising working conditions, such as in the case of Foxconn?

Literature Review

Theoretical Framework

The key considered theoretical frameworks involved in the research include

exploitation, alienation, and deskilling.

The first aspect is exploitation. According to Walker (2017), profit comes from the

exploitation of workers, according to the exploitation theory, which is most often associated

with Marxists. According to Walker (2017), as the name implies, it is based on the idea that

the worth of a product is directly proportional to the amount of time and effort it takes to

produce it. To put it another way, the final price of a product is determined by the people who

generated it. Labor, capital and raw material costs all get a portion of the completed product’s

sale price. Wages do not represent the complete worth of a worker’s labour since part of that

value is taken away by their employer in the form of profits (Selwyn, 2019). The value

created by the employees’ labour must be taken away in order for the company to make a

profit. Capitalist exploitation is the term used to describe this practice.

Alienation is also a considerable theory that can be considered in explaining aspects

related to modern slavery in the current society, mainly focusing on Foxconn as a key

example that affects production. According to Roker (2018), Marx’s idea of alienation

depicts how individuals are separated from components of their human nature when they live

in a stratified society. Alienation, in general, at the most abstract level, is surrendering control

via separation from an important quality of the self and, more particularly, separation of an

actor or agent from circumstances for meaningful action. According to Ishtiaq et al. (2019),

alienation is based on the premise that workers lose their ability to direct their own lives and

destinies when they are denied the right to think of themselves as the directors of their own

actions, the ability to define their relationships with other people, and the right to own the

goods and services they produce that have value to them.

The deskilling idea is another significant theory in the case. In the context of

contemporary slavery, this theory has been examined by a variety of academics. One such

scholar is Smith (2016), who cited that Marxists such as Braverman (1974) claim that mass

manufacturing techniques alienate, degrade, and deskill the worker. Social control is achieved
 Modern Exploitation at Foxconn 4

by a minute division of labour, which further organises work into basic, repetitive activities

with little mental reflection, according to Gamst (2015). In addition, Coombs et al. (2020)

claimed that the redesign of activities in an organisation such that they demand less

knowledge, skill, and aptitude and take less time to master is a key component of a more

efficient workplace. Deskilling is often the outcome of organisational and technological

change, and it frequently leads to a decline in employee motivation.

Evidence on Modern Exploitation at Foxconn

According to Ngai and Chan (2012), Foxconn’s success as a major electronics

contract maker has contributed significantly to China’s development as the world’s factory

and the second-biggest economy. Initiating market reforms and emphasising light industry

and services based on the basis of heavy-industry expansion during the state socialist period

of the 1950s to the late 1970s, Chinese reformers sought to build on the foundation of heavy-

industry growth. Phelps et al. (2021) emphasised that Foxconn has escalated its

competitiveness for new business in accordance with the iron rule of capitalist production,

which places each individual capitalist in direct competition with the others on the market.

Despite the perceived quality production and worldwide competition and further

being rated among the most technologically advanced companies globally, Foxconn has been

attached to various issues that analytically focusing on them leads to various conclusions that

attach it top modern slavery. For instance, a study by Pun et al. (2016) in their study focused

on research on the organisation’s issues noting that employees struggle from a global labour

perspective. According to their investigation, a 17-year-old worker leapt from the window of

her dormitory room on the fourth floor of the Foxconn facility. She lived despite being

paralysed below the waist. Numerous others have followed her suicide attempt, as Apple

fanatics devour new generations of technological items as if there is no future. In 2010, 18

young rural migrant workers attempted suicide at Foxconn plants in and around Shenzhen,
 Modern Exploitation at Foxconn 5

resulting in 14 fatalities and four survivors with devastating injuries, as recognised and

reflected by the authors. Pun et al. (2016) dug deeper into the issues surrounding the suicide

attempts and discovered that this is related to the pressure the organisation puts on workers

who strive to work under pressure, thereby meeting the international standards the

organisation strives to achieve at the expense of its employees. The majority of the

company’s employees are migrant workers, according to the researchers, who add that the

creation of a new class of rural migrant workers in the service of multinational capital has

made them more conscious of their shared circumstances and sparked different kinds of

resistance. The investigation of the collective resistance of a million individuals proves the

involvement of the organisation in modern exploitation.

Another significant study that has a key role in shaping the research through an

analytical aspect is by Xiaojun (2017), who in his study mainly focused on manufacturing

conflicts mainly an experience of workers in large factories in the region. According to the

author, Foxconn is the best example of China’s participation in the modern division of labour.

According to the author, the organisation employs over one million people in over 30

factories throughout China, many of whom labour in highly deskilled, repetitive jobs for

multinational corporations like Apple, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard. Because of a recent

increase in the number of suicides at Foxconn, the author acknowledges that employees’

resistance has increased considerably since 2010. Workers’ strikes and riots have become

more common, involving larger numbers of workers and manufacturing facilities than ever

before, according to Xiaojun (2017). According to the author, the management at Foxconn

expects full obedience from employees, which may be compared to Marxist observations

about capitalist production.

Generally, from the above analysis of some of the key author’s works and findings, it

can be noted that Foxconn being a capitalist producing company, the company has made
 Modern Exploitation at Foxconn 6

several violations that have been a key player in noting the deficiencies and risks that are

attached to its production. Despite being an internationally recognised organisation involved

in the technology revolution and production of products valued by consumers, the company is

involved as a supply chain to companies, and the company further gains its acknowledgement

at the expense of employees. As such, the key gap noted is the involvement of Foxconn in

modern slavery alias considered in this research as modern exploitation.

Discussion

In the previous section, the theoretical framework proposed mainly focused on three

key theories where focusing on modern exploitation and further analytically focusing on

Foxconn, which is an organisation that, from the review of literature, has been noted to be a

key player in modern exploitation based on the evidenced cased of suicide, workers protest,

and participation in capitalist production. From the exploitation perspective, Walker (2017),

in his analysis, noted that the worth of a product is directly proportional to the amount of

effort it takes in producing it and but based on wages, this does not represent the full worth of

the profit organisation makes in its profits. This can be noted to be a case of Foxconn, which

exploits the potential of employees. Ngai and Chan (2012) state that the organisation is

among the key plays in the technological production globally, being recognised to have a

heavy growth. Regardless, employee motivation has been noted by Pun et al. (2016) to be

lower in employees. Secondly, as connected to the case, alienation theory which, as per

Ishtiaq et al. (2019), is considered a denial of rights to think to themselves as an employee

and further lacking the capacity to direct actions given the existence of authority, especially

in capitalist production. Pun et al. (2016) abstractly studied this aspect and noted that the

company exerts pressure on employees in a bid to remain competitive and more productive in

the competitive global environment the company operates. This is an issue that has led to

more suicide cases in the company due to depression, among other factors. Additionally, as
 Modern Exploitation at Foxconn 7

per Xiaojun’s (2017) study, it has been noted that the organisation expects total obedience of

management, evidence of extreme pressure on its employees. Lastly, as per the theoretical

framework, is the aspect of deskilling that Smith (2016) noted that mass production is

associated with diminishing the skills of employees, mainly noting that social control is

always associated with dividing labour into basic repetitive activities that have a very little

mental reflection. Gamst (2015) and Coombs et al. (2020) further acknowledged that as per

deskilling, this leads to the exploitation of workers, especially those within the lowest social

strata in the society. This is reflected similarly and extensively at Foxconn, which considers

the skills of most migrants in its employment. As Pun et al. (2016) in their study mentioned,

the company has more companies that experience suicide by employees. Additionally, as per

a study by Xiaojun (2017), Foxconn has more than 30 factories across China that are

involved in a massive division of labour in over one million of its employees that span across

the company’s manufacturing plants. The company operates through a massive exertion of

pressure on its employees, and given that most are migrants and strive to make ends meet; the

organisation exploits their skills massively, thus enabling the company’s growth, whereas its

employees strive to manage the growth of the company at minimum wages, high amount of

labour, and ineffective motivation by the company.

From the research mainly based on gathered evidence from the theoretical perspective

and per the perspective of the authors whose works have been discussed analytically

considering some aspects of their research, it has been noted that despite the existence of

some of the policies and legislations that have been considered in striving to completely

eradicate exploitation and slavery, especially in production which has always been an area

experiencing massive labour exploitation, these exploitations still exist, deeply rooted

especially in capitalist production companies. These companies are involved in different

practices that have previously been analysed and predicted by theorists on the risks attached
 Modern Exploitation at Foxconn 8

to capitalist production and suppression of minority class in production, which in most

instances are always employees.

This has been noted mainly through the case of Foxconn, where the findings suggest

that most of the companies involved in the issue of modern slavery are always supply chains

and big multinational corporations that strive to meet the needs of large organisations through

explicit division of labour, non-consideration of the welfare of employees mainly through a

management strategy that is authoritative and not allowing personalised decisions in

production. This has been an issue that has been noted by most researchers, including Gold et

al. (2015), who noted that most of the management in the supply chain know they are

involved in modern slavery through forced labour and extorting employees, and these

companies neglect their involvement. Additionally, in his research, New (2020) stated that

there is minimum transparency with further regulatory bodies in the supply chain, mainly

considering regulatory initiatives that are widely perceived as weak in responding to the

serious challenge of modern slavery and exploitation. These aspects prove that in most

instances, in a business environment, despite being the key player in production, supply

chains are the key perpetrators involved in modern exploitation, considering that they have a

weaker consideration. Regardless, massive research and keenness by researchers and non-

governmental bodies have brought the issue to light.

Despite the issue being noted in one company, Foxconn, a Chinese company known

to be a key supplier to large multinational corporations such as Apple, it is also prudent to

note that modern exploitation is an issue evident in most businesses. Most companies are

involved in modern slavery mainly through the supply chain (Simpson et al., 2021).

Hammond (2021), in their study, noted that Harshey and Nestle are among the companies

that were sued in an issue involving child labour which is considered modern slavery, and

this was attached to one of their suppliers. Despite a U.S. supreme court blocking a lawsuit
 Modern Exploitation at Foxconn 9

against the companies, this was a supply chain related to the organisation, just as the case of

Foxconn, which is a supplier of come multinational corporations. Most of the companies

noted to be involved in modern slavery are either indirectly or directly involved, thus a

continuation of modern exploitation in most companies. Regardless, most companies are

striving to address the issues in their supply chain, which has extensively impacted the

operations of these organisations. Most are considering procurement strategies that enable the

company to set rules to be followed by their suppliers, whereas some are extensively

involved in issues such as corporate social responsibility in striving to address the issue of

modern slavery. Legislators are also considering the implementation of policies that are

effective in minimising the risks attached to modern slavery.

Generally, considering the extensive impacts that the issue has had on most

companies and further impacting the social consideration of the society. It is thus

recommended that companies such as Foxconn, among others, consider an analysis of how

they operate. The return of slavery in the name of modern slavery might not be considered to

have an impact, but the involved employees mainly are always affected psychologically, and

this can be noted in the number of suicides that were evident at Foxconn in 2010. There

might be other organisations utilising these methods, but under the light of the law or

policing, companies should reconsider the implications of participating in such operations.

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