A worker who left Foxconn for the fifth time returned to the assembly line shortly afterwards.
At Foxconn, it is not unusual for a worker to make several trips back and forth. Li Fang had been at the plant for less than two months, and his first fellow workers had already gone through the process of leaving, finding a job, and re-entering the plant. When he first arrived at the plant, he met an “experienced” worker at the next station who told him that he was entering the plant for the sixth time and taught him to leave when the time was right. Some workers claimed to have seen the “god” who left 18 times and came back for the 19th time.
Foxconn does not turn away returning workers during the peak production season. Before and after the release of the iPhone 12 series, the overtime hours at several Foxconn plants went up and up, and in the first week of November, a worker at the Zhengzhou plant worked 11 hours a day for a whole week without a day off.
According to Foxconn’s official website, Foxconn “is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the R&D and manufacturing of 3C products such as computers, communications, and consumer electronics”.
Most of the back-and-forth was to get in when the cost rebates or labor rates were highest. The first time he entered Foxconn, he was offered $3 more by the same agency two days later. The total difference was nearly 1,000 yuan per month, and his dinner was usually less than $10.
Foxconn uses rebates (bonuses paid in addition to wages, which must be paid for a certain number of days on the job) and the price of work to influence whether workers stay or go, and when the price of work is high, the recruitment center entrance is crowded with people, and the agents repeat the story of 8,000 or 10,000 new hires per day.
On November 15, Zhengzhou Foxconn once again raised its rebate to 10,000 yuan. About a month earlier, it had announced, “Last day for the 10,000 yuan bonus, miss it and wait another year! “The rebate fee was then reduced to $5,800. But there is a shortage of manpower, and pulling people out for more rebates is the most effective way.
But the assembly line is hard to keep people, and the dream of many million dollar bonuses was shattered on the first night shift. Working from 7 pm to 7 am the next day, during which there was only one meal break, 3 am is the most difficult time, sleepiness and hunger rushed to the brain, Li Fang had a moment to leave everything to escape from the workshop, but his hands still have to continue to accurately hit the screws. After the first night shift, the repetitive action was done more than 800 times, he walked out of the workshop with light hands and feet, feeling 10 years old. After a long night’s work, he couldn’t wait for the return of fees, so many people rolled up and left, and there were long lines of people leaving.
There were many other reasons for giving up, such as the intermediary deducting money or being scolded by the production line executives. One young worker decided not to continue that night after being reprimanded by the line officials. “The scolding was so bad that I couldn’t repeat it,” he said. “He was singled out by the executives for not completing production, and the punishment was to take a bullhorn and shout to the whole shop, “My name is XX, and I’m the slowest one. “
Zhang Liwei has spent 10 years on the Foxconn assembly line and is accustomed to seeing people coming and going. He has also been scolded, “just to get through it”, and has learned not to care about scolding anymore. He took the initiative to invite cadres to eat and wash their feet to make a good impression. The thought of leaving had crossed his mind, but he never really left. He was middle-aged, supporting his family by himself, and he couldn’t afford to lose his salary. “
Another reason for Zhang Liwei’s reluctance to leave the assembly line is that at the age of 40, he is already on the verge of entering the factory as a laborer, and he is afraid that it would be difficult for him to enter the factory after leaving Foxconn.
Someone posted a question on the bar where Foxconn workers gathered, “Who are the people who are willing to work here? One worker replied, “We have little education and limited abilities, we are just a small part of the ocean, we don’t expect to do anything spectacular, we just want to get by in peace and quiet. An ordinary life, you know? Do you know that we have struggled too? “
First, efficiency, efficiency: stand on the assembly line for 10 hours, train yourself to go to the toilet only twice.
To calculate every minute, the walk from the workshop to the restaurant should not exceed 10 minutes, or else you may be late, late will deduct money. In Zhang Liwei’s station, the operating time of a cell phone must be less than 36 seconds, and if the hand movement is a little slow, the next phone will be piled up, and if the output fails, he will be scolded lightly.
The flow line waits for no one, from workers to cadres, all have to hang a clock in their hearts. Everything is done to ensure production, which is the highest indicator in the workshop. Zhang Liwei enters the workshop at 7:30 p.m., and the only break is during the 11:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. mealtime.
It takes about 20 minutes to walk out of the workshop, change into electrostatic clothes and shoes, and then walk to the restaurant and back. Sometimes, the cadres had to hold an extra meeting, and the time was even tighter.
On the assembly line, the workers’ unit of time is changed to seconds. iPhone 12 is broken down into precise production processes, and he is responsible for fastening the two separate parts of the machine together. Each phone requires him to complete three steps, putting the machine into the fastener, fastening it, and taking it off. In each shift, 10 hours, he has to process more than 1,000 cell phones, leaving no more than 36 seconds for each machine to operate, and he has to hold and operate more than 1,000 hand tools weighing 2.5 kilograms.
Some workers who were new to Foxconn were worried that “the screws were too slow and always counted down”. The worker advised that it is crucial to clamp the screws with a few strokes when locking the screws. He reminded, do not underestimate the one or two seconds, an iPhone requires four screws, tighten four screws to 10 seconds, 500 machines is 5000 seconds, more than an hour is hundreds of machines.
Anything that affects efficiency is forbidden, no cell phones, no talking, no eating, and toilets are allowed, but the line will not stop. Workers who want to temporarily leave the production line, you need to find cadres to replace them, “who look for more, the cadres must have a bad impression of him. “Zhang Liwei control themselves, 10 hours only 2 times to the toilet.
Pressure is passed layer by layer to the very end of this huge production system, until the workers on the assembly line. Zhang Liwei had heard that “the boss” requires workers to take a 10-minute break in 2 hours, but he had never felt it. The cadres held a horn and shouted behind the workers, “Hurry up, don’t be lazy. He’s also used to being scolded for his slow work and mistakes, and he’s also used to being scolded by his leaders for not finishing production. “
After 10 years on the production line, he has become accustomed to working both day and night shifts. When he joined Foxconn, the day and night shifts usually started once a month, and no one could avoid them. No one could hide from them. For those who entered the factory for the first time, working the night shift was like taking off a layer of skin. Li Fang found that when the lights were turned on in the workshop and there were no windows, sometimes he could not distinguish between day and night, but his body could tell the difference. After 3:00 a.m., sleepiness set in, and I couldn’t lift my arms and legs, and then later, nausea set in. At first, he thought he couldn’t go on, but he wanted to leave tomorrow, and he felt bad about his travel expenses. . Li Fang described it as a flower in full bloom withering away in an instant.
There is another way to maximize efficiency, and the high cost of rebates is the reason many workers hang on. The official incentive policy states that to get the rebate, you need to accumulate a certain number of days of on-the-job and effective attendance, and the cumulative attendance is usually 90 or 120 days, so when agents recruit people, they often say, “It is not a dream to get ten thousand yuan rebate in 3 months. But to get the rebate, it may take longer.
Wang Qi started counting down from the day she entered the factory, counting the time she left day by day. Her incentive requirement is 90 days on the job, which works out to three months, but Foxconn regulations state that the qualifying list will be released on the 10th and 25th of each month, and then pushed back seven working days for distribution. For this money, she could only work for half a month longer.
Compared to these, monotony, repetition is just the smallest difficulty on the assembly line, like a casual complaint. “No one comes to an electronics factory to realize a dream. “One worker emphasized, “It’s to make money, to make money you know? “Worker-poet Xu Lizhi wrote while working at Foxconn, “For this I had to sharpen the edges, sharpen the language…. …by the assembly line I stand like iron, my hands like flying / How many days, how many nights / I just stand there and sleep. “
II. Why did you come? The reimbursement fee is over $10,000 and “literacy is fine.”
No one came here just to give up in the first place.
During mass production, Foxconn needs enough workers, and the workers are interested in the high rebates and wages it offers. From August onwards, the new iPhones made the market feverish and brought orders to Foxconn, and the rebates went up, from as low as 500 to 600 yuan in the off-season to more than 10,000 yuan.
On November 15, the public number “Zhengzhou FOXCONN Recruitment Center” announced that the bonus will be increased to 10,000 RMB, an increase of about 1,500 RMB compared to the end of October. The agents in the little video calculate that “it works out to $7,000 a month”. The agents calculate in a small video, “All in all, you can earn 7,000 yuan per month”. This has been quite attractive, the National Bureau of Statistics data show that in 2019, the average monthly income of migrant workers nationwide 3,962 yuan.
Li Fang rushed into the factory with the rising hourly rate. The agent promised him an hourly rate of 23 yuan, and after two days, the new roommate’s rate went up to 26 yuan.
Compared to regular workers who signed labor contracts with Foxconn, dispatched workers and hourly workers who received reimbursement were sent by various intermediaries in a flexible manner.
Zhang Liwei remembers that Foxconn began to implement a fee rebate model in 2017, and hourly workers were added in 2018, making the recruitment process faster and faster. In front of the factory, more than ten stores hung signs saying “Foxconn Direct Recruitment”, and in the peak season, the road in front of the recruitment center was filled with people, with some people setting up stalls on the roadside. They sold A4 paper and markers for recruitment purposes.
For those who were interested in coming to Foxconn, age, tattoo status, and case history were all more important than education and skills. After the application process, which consisted of a written test, an interview, and a physical examination, Qi Wang followed the person in front of her with a list in her hand, read the 26 letters of the alphabet, and answered “Thank You.” The Chinese meaning of the phrase “to reach out,” complete with arm extensions, hand grips and squats, was over in no time. “Anyone who has been to elementary school can come in, and literacy is enough. This simple criterion made it less difficult for Foxconn to recruit workers.
Besides, Foxconn is a “Fortune 500” company. Although Wang Qi is not sure whether it is one of the top 500 companies in China or the top 500 in the world, she feels that it is “a big factory”. Some agents who send workers to Foxconn send out job postings from other companies, the first three of which are “long day shifts, cell phones available in the workshop, free food and accommodation”. The “shortcomings” of Foxconn’s working conditions did not move Qi Wang.
But these names didn’t always work. When the gravitational pull of high rebates was not enough to satisfy the assembly line, Foxconn began to use more “urgent” methods. Zhang Liwei, a small cadre on the production line, was told that he had to recruit three new employees or he would lose his monthly technical allowance of 1,000 yuan, and the target for ordinary employees was one new employee. The leader said to him, “If you can’t recruit anyone, you don’t have to work overtime. “
In order to find new employees and meet the targets, he spent $1,000 on two slots. Some people posted their labels, certificates of honor, and screenshots of Love Pocket (Foxconn’s internal employee app) in the bar where workers gathered, promising “8 years of veteran employees, including those in quality control (departments around the production line)! “, the reply said “first advance me the medical examination fee, let you recommend”. Someone directly posted a recruiter, “300 yuan, just need to stay in the factory for a day and a half, get the label on the transfer of money,” the reply. “Bid”, “I’ll bid $400. It’s not just a matter of time.
Foxconn is also exploring other forms to supplement its manpower. Foxconn Zhengzhou Science and Technology Park public number shows that in 2014, Foxconn and Henan Energy and Chemical Group began experimenting with shared employees, and the two sides have maintained cooperation. As of October 2020, Henan Energy has sent a total of more than 10,000 shared employees to Foxconn. The two sides agreed that in the next step of cooperation, the number of shared employees will be further replenished and existing shared employees will consider extending their working hours.
- “Rules”: If you want to work overtime, it is best to treat the line manager to a meal and a foot bath.
On the assembly line, some rules have to be worked out slowly.
An employee who has been working on the production line for nearly 10 years feels that he is “used to everything,” and he has taken half a step up from an ordinary worker to a full technician. “The size is a cadre, or have to work. “He ridiculed himself, the assembly line grade division is clear, all technicians, line leader, team leader and then to the section chief, “line leader is a dividing line, from this up, is to direct others to work. “
Pay and job content vary by rank. But for the workers, the most obvious difference is the overalls and horns. The average worker mostly wears white or pink overalls, the cadres are blue in color, and someone mentioned it in a posting, venting, “With a ‘blue skin’ ‘s. “The horn was raised in the hands of the line manager, and the workshop was ringing with urging.
He had a hard time at first. The line manager was in charge of a production line, and it was up to the line manager to report who was working overtime and who was not. When he entered Foxconn, everyone wanted to make more money, so overtime became preferential treatment. If you wanted to work overtime when the number of orders was small, you had to get in touch with the line manager. Workers who were new to the production line had to be wary and take the initiative to add their contact information and treat the line manager to a meal and a foot bath during their free time, and then they were put on the overtime list.
When there was a problem, the line manager yelled at him with a bullhorn, and he didn’t want to repeat the content, which was “pretty nasty”. He couldn’t take it anymore and argued, but the line manager looked at him and said, “You won’t have to work overtime for the next month. This meant that his monthly salary was reduced by nearly 1/3, and he could only keep his head down and learn to be patient.
The limits of patience widened a little. In 2010, after a number of Foxconn employees jumped off buildings, the Employee Care Center was established to provide “round-the-clock spiritual care for employees…. “. And he didn’t get care, and after the complaint, the line manager called him out, “You either withdraw the complaint or you quit. “The cancelled overtime was not salvaged, he withdrew the complaint and never called Employee Care again, “Just let him talk, just put up with it. “
A new young worker in the factory also heard about the unspoken rules of the assembly line. At first, she wondered, “Why can’t I work overtime on the same production line? “It has been revealed that the line manager is to be “well-connected.” She felt outraged that “there was no place to even be reasonable when you had to rely on your strength to work for money, and also on your relationships. “
There were others who couldn’t stand it. A worker who entered the factory at the same time as her was reprimanded by the line manager and rolled up her bags and left the next day, even though she couldn’t get her rebate. In the bar where the workers gathered, someone asked, “Will we all be fired if we get into a fight with a manager on the shop floor? He doesn’t care anymore whether he stays or not, he cares about “will the salary be paid properly? “
There are also channels outside the waterline, which have a bearing on whether workers will get the money they deserve. There are many intermediaries who promise to “recruit directly from Foxconn,” and some want to woo the workers again. A worker posted a request for help, when the intermediary negotiated a price of 31.5 yuan, the contract was signed for 28.5 yuan, the intermediary said he would make up the difference in price, and now I can not get in touch with him. Some workers have also complained that the agency deducts insurance premiums and management fees when they are paid, so who should they complain to? Is it only possible to suffer in silence?
There was nothing in the replies to offer help. Some mocked them for “not reading the contract themselves,” while others consoled and stepped on the The pit of “black intermediaries”, consider yourself a long memory.
Fourth, struggle: “You say it’s no good to go into a factory, but we’re also trying to live.”
The last thing Foxconn needs is stories of “running away with a bucket”. When Li Fang returns to his dormitory after work one day, the 8-bedroom bed is half empty, and he no longer remembers the names of his roommates. Most people treat this place as a stop, and a set of emojis circulates among the workers: “Lift the reddest bucket and run the longest way.
Zhang Liwei is an exception. He has no intention of leaving Foxconn, but as a regular worker, he receives a basic salary, pays social security, and receives nearly 5,000 yuan a month – when the return fee rose above 10,000 yuan, some temporary workers scoffed and said, “I’ll never do a regular job! I’m 40 years old, I have a family to support, and I just want stability.” But he did not want to turn into a temporary worker, chasing high return fees and wages, “I’m 40 years old, to support a family, just want stability”.
Parents are older, children are in junior high school, food and clothing, on student sickness, relatives work with gifts, are the place to spend money. The 10-hour-a-shift assembly line made the young people cry out, but he had no complaints, he didn’t dare to miss work, didn’t dare to take leave, and strived to work overtime every day to support his family, he didn’t dare to choose to leave like the workers around him.
Occasionally, he would like to find a day laborer, and there are courier points and small restaurants scattered around the factory, delivering couriers and carrying goods. When he couldn’t find a job, he rode a tram and waited for people at the subway entrance, and when he was lucky, he earned a few tens of dollars.
A single mother who entered the factory for the high return fee never wanted to give up, and she often clocked in short videos to record how many days she worked, encouraging herself to persevere. When she went home to see her children over the weekend, she wrote in a short video, “A lot of people say it’s no good to go into a factory, but no education, no technology, we can’t drink the northwest wind, we are also trying to live. “
After entering the factory, whether to stay or leave, everyone has similar yet different reasons. Some people have worked at Foxconn for five years and are reluctant to talk about where they work on a blind date at home for fear of a bad impression. Someone posted a question about how to look less “Foxconn” when going out. “I want to be cool.
Wang Qi photographed the yellowing shoebox between shifts and asked, “Is it only clothes, shoes and cell phones in the shoebox? “The shoebox was yellow and small and square,” someone replied, “and contained the freedom and youth locked away. Some people say, “It is filled with their dreams and the happiness of their family.”
Hundreds of thousands of people gather at the Foxconn plant, which is like a small town. Some people work hard for money, struggling to make a living on the assembly line, while others are consumed by the non-stop assembly line and then thrown away.
In the vicinity of Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant, the largest number of stores are not only restaurants but also Internet cafes, with one store every 30 to 40 meters. There are small stores on the street that advertise their services, such as chanting of flowers and credit cards, including loans, cash, mortgages, and, at worst, electric cars and cell phones that can be exchanged for cash. There are also training courses between Internet cafes, teaching IT skills, beauty and hairdressing, and there are always people going to learn.
In the short time it took to go to the bathroom, Wang Qi noticed that on the bathroom door, someone had written in red pen, “Have you thought about the future? “We are all ants in the world,” and also Someone wrote, “I am not perfect, but I am unique.” After less than 2 months on the assembly line, Li Fang decided to stick around until the end of November and leave, not knowing if he would ever come back.
(All names in the text are pseudonyms at the request of the interviewee)
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