The Wall Street Journal reports that working conditions are getting better at the embattled Foxconn manufacturing facility where 150,000 Chinese workers assemble iPhones and iPads for the rest of the world. According to the report, wages have risen by 16 per cent, and the probation period before entry-level workers become permanent has been reduced from six months to three months.
There hasn’t been a lot of good news coming out of Foxconn over the last couple of years. A string of worker suicides at the Chinese production lines and damning news reports lead to a high-profile visit by Apple CEO Tim Cook and an investigation by the Fair Labor Association. Now it appears that we’re seeing at least the beginnings of a turnaround at Foxconn. [WSJ]