Apple and Foxconn Will Share Costs of Improving Factory Workers’ Conditions

In a ground breaking ceremony for it’s new Shaghai headquaters, Foxconn CEO, Terry Gou, announced that Foxconn and Apple will split the initial costs to improve working conditions for their factory workers, and improve the public’s view of their factories as “sweatshops”.

In a speech today, Terry Gou said he doesn’t see this as a “cost”, but more of a “competitive strength”. Gou went on to say that Apple has the same view and will be sharing the initial costs. It was unclear what these costs would be, and if the split would be 50/50, but this announcement is big news for Foxconn’s factory workers. Who knows how long this will take, but it sounds like they are making steps in the right direction.

“We’ve discovered that this (improving factory conditions) is not a cost. It is a competitive strength,” Gou told reporters on Thursday after the ground-breaking ceremony for a new China headquarters in Shanghai. I believe Apple sees this as a competitive strength along with us, and so we will split the initial costs.”

Earlier this year, Foxconn started working towards raising wages for it’s factory workers, and hiring more workers to cut back on overtime. These steps will surely help workers feel better about their positions at Foxconn, and will hopefully change the public’s view of the company.

[via Reuters]

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