Apple's iPhone Foxconn factory buildings

Apple's iPhone factories are located in Shenzhen, China and run by Foxconn. What’s mysterious about these buildings is that they have nets draped over the open drops to stop the workers from jumping to their deaths, after 11 died in under a year in 2011. Foxconn is the largest private employer in Mainland China, manufacturing mostly electronics.

The inside of the building looks like a standard electronics manufacturer: bright, long assembly lines on every side. It looks like something out of a science fiction movie – like the Matrix. The LED lights and the white lab coats of the workers set against the dark floor makes for a very depressing scene. It’s just too contrasting. There is an entire campus dedicated to the factories. There are shopping centers along a boulevard and living quarters for the workers, where eight employees share a dorm-style room about 15x30 feet. The factory itself is separated from the rest of the campus by concrete walls and chain link fences.

Nets on the outside of the buildings.

I don’t think these factories change by location. They’re pretty standard for electronic manufacturers, minus the suicide-preventing nets and what Westerners think of when you hear about a Chinese factory.