Foxconn plans to address problems with increasingly expensive and sometimes suicidal workers by replacing many of them with robots, increasing the number it uses a hundredfold over the next three years. Xinhua reports:
The robots will be used to do simple and routine work such as spraying, welding and assembling which are now mainly conducted by workers, said [company founder, Terry] Gou at a workers’ dance party Friday night.
The company currently has 10,000 robots and the number will be increased to 300,000 next year and 1 million in three years, according to Gou ….
The company currently employs 1.2 million people, with about 1 million of them based on the Chinese mainland.
Foxconn may be best known for its assembly of many Apple products, but also produces hardware for companies including Acer, Amazon, Asus, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nokia and Sony. Read more about Foxconn, via CDT.
