NYU Student Goes Undercover at Pegatron Factory, Offers Inside Look at iPhone Production

[spinedoc77]

The fault is not Apple's. Look around you, who is buying this stuff? You can't blame Apple for wanting to make money. Although there is something to be said about the widening gap between worker income and company profit. But if Apple left another company would immediately jump in its place.

The issue that no one is really looking at, including all the displaced workers who think bringing jobs back will improve their plight, is automation. I feel bad because the very first victims of automation will be those workers in those 3rd world country factories. But automation will make its way everywhere, and when there are no more jobs to actually bring back I wonder what the rhetoric will be. It will also be interesting when prices keep going up for products, while costs go down.

 

[Msail30bay]

What to say .........?? The same is happening in America and Canada - has he checked-out retail jobs in these two countries?? You charge more for a product to pay your lower workers more - paid breaks, etc., and then your costumers complaint that your prices are two high, so they THEN go to someone else who charges less, THEN you find yourself losing on profits which THEN leads to closing shops. I believe NO ONE has a solution as HOW to charge more, pay more and earn a profit at the same time - something got to give at some point. There will always be low wage earners, mid-range and high earners with different benefits, etc.

 

[Mirascael]

Wait, the factory workers could not afford to buy the iPhone? What a shame! Let me ask at www.ferrari-rumors.com if the Ferrari workers all own Ferraris.

Even worse human right issues out there: Boeing and Airbus workers can't afford aeroplanes!

 

[Wowereit]

Working a boring job for 60 hours a week is a human rights violation?

 

[sniffies]

Shocking news story: Grad Student From Top University Didn't Enjoy Assembling iPhones in a Factory. Film at 11:00

Overpriced? Yes. But top? lol

 

[brofkand]

Factories in the US are very similar to that in terms of hours worked, working conditions, and expectations. Americans just act holier than thou about it happening in other countries.

The only difference between US factories and Asian factories is the pay and benefits. But that's really the only difference. There is nothing wrong with the system. Nobody that works at Pegatron or Alcoa in the US or any other factory are forced to work there.

 

[kobalap]

$450 for a month of 60 hour weeks. That's less than $2 per hour. It is no surprise that Apple and other companies will ship production overseas for that kind of cost savings. In America that amount of labor would cost over $2,000 plus benefits like social security, medicare, worker's comp, and unemployment.

Of course the flip side is Apple is still paying the local population more than they would be making elsewhere.

It is really no different than with the auto industry as jobs shift from the $50/hour union jobs in Detroit to the $20/hour jobs in the American South and eventually to the even lower wages in Mexico and South America. The locals who are in much more dire financial straits will welcome any job over the poverty they currently experience.

Apple is probably one of the few companies who possibly could shift production to the USA and get away with the higher prices for their goods, but eventually commoditization will catch up and they would be forced to shift to areas with low labor costs.

Welcome to the future, your job is only as stable as a companies ability to build a factory and ship the product back over here cheaper.

First of all, Apple doesn't do the manufacturing. They outsource it to companies such as Pegatron.

Second of all, Apple doesn't decide how much the workers of a given manufacturing plant, such as Pegatron's, are compensated for their work. Apple negotiates pricing for the products that they spec out. Pegatron decides what they are going to pay their workers.

As a stockholder and a believer of free markets, I am a proponent of Apple continuing to seek and negotiate the best pricing they can get from the manufacturers they outsource to. Increasing the cost to manufacture an iPhone is not in my best interest as a stockholder as it negatively affects the return on my investment. And I don't feel like I as a stockholder should be punished when society itself doesn't seem willing to pay extra for products made only in certain places or made in a certain way.

 

[revenantananias]

"Because of unpaid breaks, he was only paid for 10.5 hours. He was also provided with housing in a dorm with multiple other employees, but he had to pay for meals. At $450 per month, Zeng did not earn anywhere near enough to purchase one of the devices he was assembling"​

I used to work for Mercedes-Benz and I could have never afforded one, not then and not now. Should they lower their prices?

Let's not forget how many people in china who have bought the phone, the people in china sending people to the States and buying 10 phones and bringing them back and selling them for far more.

This is a China problem, not an Apple problem. Samsung, Microsoft, google and others use the same processes in china.

 

[kobalap]

And by the way, that's about 40% of what I make in the U.S., I have all of Apples latest products, I pay my rent on time, and I save money, and their cost of living isn't nearly as high.

You make $300/week for 60 hours worth of work? Wow.

 

[Wowereit]

Regardless of whatever you think of Apple's factory/production processes, I've always found the "can't afford one of the products he's making" thing kind of a misleading/lazy shorthand for "underpaid." Can every person in a, say, BMW factory afford to buy a BMW?

People in Germany being directly employed by BMW? Yes.
BMW is paying even their low level workers absurdly high wages.
They can't lower them due to unions and collective agreements, but they try to circumvent it by using sub-contractors.

 

[kobalap]

Regardless of whatever you think of Apple's factory/production processes, I've always found the "can't afford one of the products he's making" thing kind of a misleading/lazy shorthand for "underpaid." Can every person in a, say, BMW factory afford to buy a BMW?

That's comparing apples and elephants, don't you think?

Because as you scale the kind of product you build, the more out of reach the product because. As an example, pretty much no one building a nuclear submarine can afford to own one.

As an aside, no not every person who works at the BMW factory can afford to buy a BMW car. But a huge percentage of them can. And if you are talking about the percentage of them that can afford to buy a BMW motorcycle, I would imagine that the answer changes to - all of them can afford to buy one.

 

[rodpascoe]

$450 for a month of 60 hour weeks. That's less than $2 per hour. It is no surprise that Apple and other companies will ship production overseas for that kind of cost savings. In America that amount of labor would cost over $2,000 plus benefits like social security, medicare, worker's comp, and unemployment.

You cannot equate the two figures like that.

If you could buy a new Ferrari in China for $1000 and a six bedroom large house for $2000 would it seem so bad then?

Unless you know the cost of living and make the appropriate conversion then the figures are meaningless.

 

[pweicks]

What a loser. This guy kicks back in his cushy middle class lifestyle, and he has the NERVE to judge what other people CHOOSE to do for a living?? How much money per month does he think that those workers were making on the farm? Huh? How productive were they there? Living in absolute poverty ridden destitution? And he has the nerve to criticize them, because he finds their work "very boring"??? And now he wants to get involved with "human rights advocacy"???

Let me guess: Shot in the dark. He wants these companies to pay their workers more. And when they're not willing or able to pay more, he'll tell the government to install a minimum wage, and price these kids out of a job. He'll FORCE them to NOT work at the rate that they thought was good for them; the rate they agreed to when they traveled from home to get the job in the first place.

These kids *think* that they'll be better off making money, instead of starving in rural China, but ohh noooo here comes the NYU intellectual to tell him alllll about how to live his life the way the intellectuals think he should live it, or else. Good think he was there to FORCE his idiotic opinions on others.

And by the way, that's about 40% of what I make in the U.S., I have all of Apples latest products, I pay my rent on time, and I save money, and their cost of living isn't nearly as high.

Maybe this kid should mind his business and shut up, instead of advocating for the violation of the rights that he claims to want to uphold. You don't have a RIGHT to INITIATE FORCE against anyone for ANY reason. Therefore, you don't have a right to tell people BY FORCE that they can't take a job, or that they can only take it under the terms that YOU prefer. Any claim to such a right is an absurd contradiction.

At what point was this guy forcing anybody to do anything?? And at what point was he ever trying to offend the employees of Pegatron??

 

[Small White Car]

What a loser.

You don't have a RIGHT to INITIATE FORCE against anyone for ANY reason. Therefore, you don't have a right to tell people BY FORCE that they can't take a job, or that they can only take it under the terms that YOU prefer. Any claim to such a right is an absurd contradiction.

Did we read the same interview?

 

[shyam09]

Working a boring job for 60 hours a week is a human rights violation?

Obviously. There should be a mandatory dance / video game / chatting / random fun session every 5 working minutes that lasts for 30 paid minutes. Every 20 working minutes should have a mandatory paid lunch break with meals provided free of cost. And none of that cheap crap ********, it has to be 5-star quality because only the best can be given to these workers.

 

[TheTruth101]

Did we read the same interview?

LOL.... there is some koolaid around.

 

[burgman]

Are many surprised at the number of completely insensitive cold hearted remarks here? When this level of exploitation hits your life with little choices to stop it, then perhaps you will get it. Let's bring manufacturing back to the USA and put people back to work in company towns, read some history to see how that worked out. Most here have no clue what hardship and no hope for the future feels like., but your turn is coming by the way things look.

 

[Glideslope]

How about making the iPhone 8 $100 more costly, and using the money to pay for ethical manufacture instead of new features. Call it the "Human Rights" edition.

How about Pegatron moves the factories deeper into Rural China? Then we can have a $100 discount on the new iPhone. I'm good with that.

 

[4tune8chance]

What a loser. This guy kicks back in his cushy middle class lifestyle, and he has the NERVE to judge what other people CHOOSE to do for a living?? How much money per month does he think that those workers were making on the farm? Huh? How productive were they there? Living in absolute poverty ridden destitution? And he has the nerve to criticize them, because he finds their work "very boring"??? And now he wants to get involved with "human rights advocacy"???

Let me guess: Shot in the dark. He wants these companies to pay their workers more. And when they're not willing or able to pay more, he'll tell the government to install a minimum wage, and price these kids out of a job. He'll FORCE them to NOT work at the rate that they thought was good for them; the rate they agreed to when they traveled from home to get the job in the first place.

These kids *think* that they'll be better off making money, instead of starving in rural China, but ohh noooo here comes the NYU intellectual to tell him alllll about how to live his life the way the intellectuals think he should live it, or else. Good think he was there to FORCE his idiotic opinions on others.

And by the way, that's about 40% of what I make in the U.S., I have all of Apples latest products, I pay my rent on time, and I save money, and their cost of living isn't nearly as high.

Maybe this kid should mind his business and shut up, instead of advocating for the violation of the rights that he claims to want to uphold. You don't have a RIGHT to INITIATE FORCE against anyone for ANY reason. Therefore, you don't have a right to tell people BY FORCE that they can't take a job, or that they can only take it under the terms that YOU prefer. Any claim to such a right is an absurd contradiction.

Exactly, what the guy should have done was work on a Chinese farm.

 

[pweicks]

Tim Cook said the biggest obstacle of moving production to America was that Americans lack the vocational skills which Chinese workers have... Sooo I guess Americans don't know how to slap on a sticker and put a screw into an iPhone??

 

[newyorkone]

A university graduate thought that the process of putting a sticker on and a screw in all day long was very boring? Stop the presses, this is front page news!!!!!

My thought exactly. So the point of this idiotic project was what??? Human rights advocacy? This guy is completely clueless...

 

[whiteonline]

It's not the consumer's fault for demanding some sort of affordability, and the answer is not necessarily to jack up wages.
The problem stems from investors who sit on their asses demanding extreme efficiencies in business processes. These "efficiencies" far exceed what is needed to maintain a well rounded business model (benefiting the suits, workers, and customers).
But instead, everyone hides behind the "fiduciary responsibility" like it's a catch-all justification.

 

[macTW]

If Apple was the only company to use a factory like this, there'd be issues... That being said, change the culture and business will follow. Businesses are not responsible for that change, nor is the government.

 

[rGiskard]

You guys should hear the stories I could tell from my time undercover at the Intertrode factory.
[doublepost=1491950175][/doublepost]

A university graduate thought that the process of putting a sticker on and a screw in all day long was very boring? Stop the presses, this is front page news!!!!!

You try doing such a rote task for 12 hrs a day on work days. You would be surprised at how dehumanizing such work can be even for well-compensated workers.

 

[shermsherm]

What a loser. This guy kicks back in his cushy middle class lifestyle, and he has the NERVE to judge what other people CHOOSE to do for a living?? How much money per month does he think that those workers were making on the farm? Huh? How productive were they there? Living in absolute poverty ridden destitution? And he has the nerve to criticize them, because he finds their work "very boring"??? And now he wants to get involved with "human rights advocacy"???

Let me guess: Shot in the dark. He wants these companies to pay their workers more. And when they're not willing or able to pay more, he'll tell the government to install a minimum wage, and price these kids out of a job. He'll FORCE them to NOT work at the rate that they thought was good for them; the rate they agreed to when they traveled from home to get the job in the first place.

These kids *think* that they'll be better off making money, instead of starving in rural China, but ohh noooo here comes the NYU intellectual to tell him alllll about how to live his life the way the intellectuals think he should live it, or else. Good think he was there to FORCE his idiotic opinions on others.

And by the way, that's about 40% of what I make in the U.S., I have all of Apples latest products, I pay my rent on time, and I save money, and their cost of living isn't nearly as high.

Maybe this kid should mind his business and shut up, instead of advocating for the violation of the rights that he claims to want to uphold. You don't have a RIGHT to INITIATE FORCE against anyone for ANY reason. Therefore, you don't have a right to tell people BY FORCE that they can't take a job, or that they can only take it under the terms that YOU prefer. Any claim to such a right is an absurd contradiction.

[doublepost=1491950976][/doublepost]

What a loser. This guy kicks back in his cushy middle class lifestyle, and he has the NERVE to judge what other people CHOOSE to do for a living?? How much money per month does he think that those workers were making on the farm? Huh? How productive were they there? Living in absolute poverty ridden destitution? And he has the nerve to criticize them, because he finds their work "very boring"??? And now he wants to get involved with "human rights advocacy"???

Let me guess: Shot in the dark. He wants these companies to pay their workers more. And when they're not willing or able to pay more, he'll tell the government to install a minimum wage, and price these kids out of a job. He'll FORCE them to NOT work at the rate that they thought was good for them; the rate they agreed to when they traveled from home to get the job in the first place.

These kids *think* that they'll be better off making money, instead of starving in rural China, but ohh noooo here comes the NYU intellectual to tell him alllll about how to live his life the way the intellectuals think he should live it, or else. Good think he was there to FORCE his idiotic opinions on others.

And by the way, that's about 40% of what I make in the U.S., I have all of Apples latest products, I pay my rent on time, and I save money, and their cost of living isn't nearly as high.

Maybe this kid should mind his business and shut up, instead of advocating for the violation of the rights that he claims to want to uphold. You don't have a RIGHT to INITIATE FORCE against anyone for ANY reason. Therefore, you don't have a right to tell people BY FORCE that they can't take a job, or that they can only take it under the terms that YOU prefer. Any claim to such a right is an absurd contradiction.

Let me get this straight. You're living in America making just over $1000 a month and can afford to have all the latest stuff from Apple. This is to justify why this dude in China shouldn't whine about only making $450 a month. So do you pay rent/mortgage? Do you buy food? Health insurance? I'd love to see the details how your monthly budget works out for having anywhere near enough for these basics, let alone enough for all that Apple gear.