Go to the source
http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DatasetCode=ANHRS
Just on hours us is outside the top 10.
Though If you read the post and links back to the bbc , you would have seen the disclaimer that the Data is collected by the countries themselves and not always perfectly comparable, some countries do not feature![]()
Hours was not the issue though, it's how hard people have to work, I've worked in Japan, Australia and GB, while in Japan I was really interested to see how long they worked etc, thier job was thier life , but no way would I say they worked harder. Just cause they spend more time in the office it does not mean they are more productive.
Abosulutly, it has been proven many times that the differences in productivity between a 40 hours/week and 60 hours/week is minimal.
How do you think these countries became so big so fast? Look at Japan and Korea after the war/wars. They had nothing. The countries became so big so quickly because the people became literal slaves to build back up their countries.
Of course spending more time in the office doesnt mean your productivity will automatically triple.
But it does increase productivity. You think these workers (any country) putting in late hours are sitting on their asses doing nothing?
To say putting more hours in doesnt mean its productive is undermining these people. And if you truly believe that then you're delusional.
----------
I guess all those investment bankers working 100 hour weeks are just sitting on their asses wasting time right? Seriously if you have no idea what you are talking about better off not saying anything.
congratulations, you have been lobbied.
let me ask you this, why would the selling price of the iPhone double? the profit margin on the base model iPhone 5 is 72%. i'm not sure how long it takes to assemble an iPhone 5, but if you're saying that using US labor would cut the profit margin in half and would require Apple to double the selling price, that means their profit margin would still be 36%. that's still significantly higher than the rest of the industry. a company can thrive on 36%, very well actually. apple has so much cash on hand it has no idea what the hell to do with it all. they are expanding their data centers, yes...but that is a just a trivial slice of the pie so to speak. look, i'm not blaming apple for their profit margin...i'm just saying it doesn't need 72% to be #1
apple has pushed chinese labor to the brink, and now we are seeing the same kind of swing back as the US saw in the 1920's. they are humans and they can only be pushed so far - everyone has a breaking point and it looks like the Foxconn workers have reached it. can you blame them?
"investment bankers working 100 hour weeks"
That's funny![]()
After reading a large portion of your post you should take your own advice. The bottom line of overseas workforce is greed !!!! With the amount of money saved on labor we should get flawless products and arguably cheaper with the immense profits.I know I'm late to the party, and I only read up to page 5ish of the comments - but will people who have no idea how businesses are run please stop saying stupid things like this.
Companies, especially publicly traded ones, have expectations and accountability to shareholders - people purchase shares based on past performance and forecasted performance along with dividends. Businesses don't take 25% margin hits just to make a statement. You would see prices increase to keep that margin, which means less units shipped, less accessories, less music and app downloads. The fallout could be enormous - realistically, almost nobody in the US would buy $400 phones ON contract.
If you still think they should just take a hit for the better good - what would you say when you walk in to work tomorrow and your boss tells you that you're now taking a $5,000 pay cut as part of the company's new initiative to provide food and medicine to Africa, or Appalachia, or any big city's poverty programs? You're still working as hard, you still have a lifestyle to maintain, but now you are being paid less. I have a hard time imagining that conversation would go well.
And to everybody who seems to think the workers are intentionally letting / pushing products through QC - please pull your heads out of your asses and stop commenting on here, and preferably uninstall your browser.
Sure you may have a disgruntled employee here and there, but on the whole workers want to make a good product and do a good job. This is a production and engineering issue - workers will use the skills they have and equipment on-hand to make the best products possible. If there are quality concerns, it's up to supervisors to put controls in place if they are available, or work with engineers to change the process to get better yield.
99 out of 100 times, operator error is not a legitimate excuse for a quality escape - human factors need to be taken into account.
Ultimately this is between Apple and Foxconn to work together and determine what is realistic, and possibly set up better initial stockings, ramp sooner, something.
After reading a large portion of your post you should take your own advice. The bottom line of overseas workforce is greed !!!! With the amount of money saved on labor we should get flawless products and arguably cheaper with the immense profits.![]()
Hey now, don't let facts get in the way of a sensational story.
yawn, how many times does this have to be said by myself and others. when analysts compare raw profit margin of a product, they don't take into consideration marketing, advertising, shipping, etc.
Apple R&D budget
"For the nine months ended June 25 (2011), Apple's R&D spending was $1.78 billion, or 2.2 percent of sales. "
This is for 2011, but can be used as a comparison for 2012. So scale that down to a single iphone and that means they spent about $14.30 on R&D for each phone sold.
Apple Ad/marketing budget (2010)
"Apple's recently filed SEC 10-K form reports that company spent $691 million on advertising in the year that launched both iPad and the new iPhone 4." So even smaller peanuts spent on advertising.
To try and argue apple is not making huge profits is a genuine lie.
Checked out this picture of line waiting to apply for a summer job in Foxconn earlier this year.
Does people normally line up to be a slave????
I know I'm late to the party, and I only read up to page 5ish of the comments - but will people who have no idea how businesses are run please stop saying stupid things like this.
Companies, especially publicly traded ones, have expectations and accountability to shareholders - people purchase shares based on past performance and forecasted performance along with dividends. Businesses don't take 25% margin hits just to make a statement. You would see prices increase to keep that margin, which means less units shipped, less accessories, less music and app downloads. The fallout could be enormous - realistically, almost nobody in the US would buy $400 phones ON contract.
If you still think they should just take a hit for the better good - what would you say when you walk in to work tomorrow and your boss tells you that you're now taking a $5,000 pay cut as part of the company's new initiative to provide food and medicine to Africa, or Appalachia, or any big city's poverty programs? You're still working as hard, you still have a lifestyle to maintain, but now you are being paid less. I have a hard time imagining that conversation would go well.
And to everybody who seems to think the workers are intentionally letting / pushing products through QC - please pull your heads out of your asses and stop commenting on here, and preferably uninstall your browser.
Sure you may have a disgruntled employee here and there, but on the whole workers want to make a good product and do a good job. This is a production and engineering issue - workers will use the skills they have and equipment on-hand to make the best products possible. If there are quality concerns, it's up to supervisors to put controls in place if they are available, or work with engineers to change the process to get better yield.
99 out of 100 times, operator error is not a legitimate excuse for a quality escape - human factors need to be taken into account.
Ultimately this is between Apple and Foxconn to work together and determine what is realistic, and possibly set up better initial stockings, ramp sooner, something.
Bring those jobs back to America, Apple. Put the people to work here who buy your products. We have a saying here, in America we have no art...we do everything as well as we can.
Lots of socialists on this thread, it would seem.
The bottom line is that a person pays for a product - made to a standard, and has the right to complain if short-changed.
So you must think the Managers are like "we must treat these workers nice or else they will quit".
The reality is the Managers are like "Get back to work bitch! I got a mile long of people wanting to take your spot".
Bring the jobs back overseas.
So those fools have no problem letting predamaged iPhones full of nicks and scuffs slip past QC and they're striking because they got caught?
LOL Maybe 5% of the population lives to that saying... Most of us in America are lazy. I work 60 hours a week for my job and a majority of my friends/family/co-workers start bitching once they hit 30 hours.![]()
If they going to making their product in China then they having to be fair to Chinese workers. If worker being treated fair they no striking. There is something wrong and you no getting all the story. This is big problem with foreign companies coming to China they always asking lower price and this money coming from worker pocket. I do not know why Apple who making so much moneys cannot being fair. How much money they needing to make before they thing of others.
What does Foxconn gain by admitting there was a strike?
What does Foxconn gain by saying there was no strike?
macfacts
Are you saying this strike was over pay? This thread is about a news report that says it's due to quality control expectations being unrealistic, and workers striking due to being asked to do the impossible (make the phone without it getting scratched, ever). What does this have to do with pay, exactly?
Personally, I don't understand why people care about minor scratches on the back of their iPhone. It does not affect the functionality of the device. Now the people who complained about these scratches can see the consequences of their idiotic whining. Good job, folks.
This is the problem with "free trade:" products get better rights than people. The product can freely be traded with no tariffs from one country to another, however the workers cannot freely move from one country to another. The products are protected from having different tariffs in different countries, but the workers are not protected from having different wages is different countries. Free trade of products without free movement of labor causes pay inequity.
Pay inequity is why companies put their factories in China in the first place. If Chinese workers and Mexican workers got paid the same as USA workers, then the factories would still be in the USA.
We need to eliminate countries and currencies, and make the entire world a single country with no borders and a single currency, and a single minimum wage.![]()
Sorry, but you are clueless. If you are sitting there thinking that Apple will just decide to halve its profit to bring the work back overseas to the US, you are dreaming.
1. American workers won't work for low wages, nor would they work the demanding hours required. They'll sit around without a job before they'll do hard labor for dirt cheap....so if anything, those jobs moving from China will just go to the next lowest bidder.
2. It's not just Apple. You make it sound like they are the ones responsible here. Nearly every piece of electronics in your house is made in China.
the quality issues boil down to Foxconn trying to boost profits by reducing capital equipment upgrades that really are required to meet Apple's level of quality. it's a Foxconn issue, not an Apple issue. the thread digressed to profit margins so i chimed in. This is one of the downsides of firm fixed contracts with Apple...Foxconn tries to cut corners since they have a limited fixed budget
I don't think you can say that the quality issues fall simply at the feet of Foxconn. While I'm sure that there are adjustments Foxconn will make in the process to boost quality, the fact that they are working with what appears to be a phone with an inherent design flaw doesn't exactly help them, especially when Apple is pressuring them to improve quality while also boosting production to meet the huge backlog in orders.
Apple has to take some responsibility here do they not?
All the designing, engineering, and brain-storming will go nowhere without the workers actually assembling the phones.
Treat them well.
Is the throwing of cases around is a form of protest or more likely the assembly line dumps the frames into a bin and they ding/scuff etc. Either way, if folks are mistreated and not provided the proper tools, shame on apple.