One million new jobs… for robots

A software manufacturer in Taiwan plans to replace its assembly line staff with one million robots.

Foxconn manufactures parts for many of the world’s leading companies including, Apple, Dell, Nokia, Hewlett-Packard and Sony Ericsson. They currently ‘employ’ 10,000 robots but that number will increase to 300,000 in 2012 and to 1,000,000 by 2014, according to the company’s chairman. But in fairness, the robots have had it tough during the recession.

Sources close to the company recently confirmed the plans to move to a heavily automated operation. The rising labour costs in China have been attributed to the use of more robots for production purposes.

According to CK Lu, a senior analyst at research firm Gartner, the wage increase has been significant this year and the pace is not expected to slow down. If more automation is not brought in, companies could face having to move their factories to better locations.

Foxconn currently employs 1.2 million ‘human’ workers with one million of them working on mainland China.

The company has made some heavy financial losses over the past few years. In 2010 the company saw a net loss of $218.3m. A number of unrelated suicides have also been recorded in different Foxconn China factories over the years.

At least 13 employees died last year on company property, which activists blamed on tough working conditions, although the firm disputed this.

Photo via Lores Joberg - Flicker