French Journalist Jordan Pouille recently visited the Foxconn campus in Shenzhen and returned home with a series of photos and video that highlight the conditions and morale at the notorious plant. Foxconn, which manufactures gadgets for a variety of major electronics companies including Apple, HP, Nokia, Sony and Palm, has been scrutinized over the past year following a string of worker suicides and allegations of exploitative and abusive practices among management. Pouille details the scene at the Foxconn factory, and speaks to workers who describe the conditions as being similar to a labor camp.

At the production line, none of them could speak or even look at each other while trying to achieve the christmas production targets. They had to leave their mobile at the entry. However, their managers tried not to insult them, after all the bad publicity they got last spring when the 13 Foxconn suicides hit the headlines. A big improvement has been made after 30 glorious years of economic reforms: more workers are now allowed to sit down (depending on the good will of their managers) while working.

Hit the break for a video and visit the read link for a first-hand account of the conditions at Foxconn.

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