Land of the Foxconn

[Porkinator]

Chinese Students Forced into Foxconn Internships
Imagine this scenario: prior to 2010, a company witnessed three strange deaths and two suicides. Then, when 2010 rolled over, said company played host to twelve suicide attempts on its Longhua campus, ten of which actually resulted in death. Now imagine someone forcing you to work for said company. Even more importantly, imagine that you're still just a 17-year-old student.

Reports from overseas are indicating that up to 100,000 vocational students in the central Chinese province of Henan have been ordered to pack their bags and serve a three-month internship with Foxconn's Shenzhen branch. The students were given the orders on June 17, and were told to be ready to leave nine days later. Students were to comply, or to drop out of school.

Supposedly this forced internship is part of a larger effort by the Chinese government to bring industrial manufacturing to Henan, a rather undeveloped region. Foxconn's plan is to set up shop in Henan and employ somewhere close to 300,000 local residents. Based on the reports, the 100,000 students will come back to Henan and help kick-start that particular branch.

In addition to the students, the provincial government has ordered each town to give up 100 additional 18-to-45-year-old locals for the new Foxconn branch.