Apple's Top Supplier Raises Salary, Cuts Probation for Workers

Apple's major supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. said it has raised basic salary by 16% for its production line workers in Zhengzhou, Henan province of China, as it has difficulty recruiting labor in the area.

Hon Hai, known by its trade name Foxconn, also said it has reduced the probation period for all entry-level employees to three months from six months in China as part of its continued effort to improve working conditions. The company, which assembles iPads and iPhones, has more than one million employees in China. Hon Hai, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics products, has been facing pressure to improve wages and working conditions for employees following several suicides at the company's facility in Shenzen in 2010 and an explosion at a plant in Chengdu in 2011 that killed four workers. Following the incidents, Hon Hai increased salaries and outfitted worker dormitories with safety nets.