China’s Tech Factories Turn to Student Labor
September 25th, 2014Via: Dow Jones:
CHONGQING, China—On the outskirts of this southwestern Chinese hub lie the student factories.
Schools send thousands of teenagers here to put together electronic devices for some of the world’s largest brands. Many students say they are given no choice.
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Student interns have become increasingly entrenched in China’s labor force, especially among major electronics makers. At some factories, interns say they outnumber regular workers.
Some major brands like H-P and Apple Inc. AAPL -0.87% say they are working with their suppliers to make sure intern use is reasonable and complies with labor laws, but acknowledge that violations occur.
The practice has the official stamp of approval of China’s Ministry of Education, which in 2010 said vocational schools must supply students to fill labor shortages.
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On a recent evening, uniformed workers streamed out of Chongqing’s major electronics factories to buy noodles or sizzling sausages. Of the roughly two dozen workers stopped at random, nearly all said they were vocational students, with majors ranging from computer science to tourism to education.
Some interns said they were paid around the same as regular workers, or around 1,300 renminbi ($212) a month before overtime, though several students, including a 16-year-old girl surnamed Yang who makes laptops at Compal, said they had to pay most of their base wages to their school.
