Foxconn—one of Apple's main providers—is so worried about employee suicidal rate that they've hired 100 counsellors to help. Their concern isn't only about the living, however: They're bringing 30 Buddhist monks to release the suicide souls from purgatory.
Imagine that: 30 Buddhist monks performing a religious ceremony to free the souls of those who killed themselves. That's what Liu Kun—director of Foxconn's press office—said to the China Daily:
The victims' families asked us to bless the dead and release their souls from suffering, and we will do everything we can to comfort them and prevent such accidents in the future.
According to Fan Fumin, a Chinese psychology expert at Tsinghua University, the number of suicides is comparable to those among college students. The problem, according to him, is that the suicidal behavior seems to be copied by other workers and increasing every month. He also said that this move comes too late.
Perhaps Foxconn needs to start preventing suicides by easing their interrogation methods and the pressure in their factories. [Evertiq via BBC]