Foxconn, maker of iPads and iPhones for Apple, announced at an employee dance party Friday night that the company would be replacing many workers with 1 million robots over the next few years.
Sounds like some party!
Terry Gou, founder and chairman of Foxconn, said the move would "cut rising labor expenses and improve efficiency" and that "robots will be used to do simple and routine work such as spraying, welding and assembling", according to the Xinhua News Agency.
Foxconn currently uses around 10,000 robots and plans to increase to 300,000 within a year, on the way to a 1 million robot goal within three years. How this will effect the 1.2 million workers at Foxconn, 1 million of which come from mainland China, remains to be seen.
Foxconn, the world's largest maker of computer components, came under harsh criticism for providing tough or even inhumane working conditions after a string of at least sixteen workers committed suicide at its massive Chinese plants in 2010.
Replacing the humans with robots is, of course, one way to solve the inhumane working condition problem.
Via CNET
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