The Foxconn Technology Group announced on Sunday night it would give its workers in Shenzhen a second pay raise in October this year in a bid to ease the tension triggered by a spate of recent suicides.

Workers on a Foxconn production line pose for a photograph last Thursday, June 3, 2010. The Taiwan-funded company announced a salary increase in response to a series of recent worker suicide cases. [China Daily]

The world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, which makes the iPhone, iPad and other electronic gadgets for international brands, said it would raise the salaries of the assembly line workers at its plants in the southern city of Shenzhen to 2,000 yuan (US$292) beginning Oct 1.

The announcement comes close on the heels of the group's latest pay raise scheme that adjusts the basic salaries of its workers across China by 30 percent from June 1.

As a result, the salary of front-line operators has jumped from 900 yuan, the minimum required by the local government, to 1,200 yuan in Shenzhen.

The wage increase, according to the company statement, aims to boost the morale of front-line workers and reinforce the company's long-term operational strength.

It is estimated that at least 80 percent of the 400,000 employees of Foxconn in Shenzhen could benefit from the new program, according to company insiders.

However, the workers must pass a performance evaluation that lasts three months, or a three-month probation for new employees, to qualify for the wage increase.

Workers elsewhere in China will get raises in July, which have been adjusted for local conditions, the statement said.

Stock trading in the listing arm of the suicide-plagued company was halted right after the opening on Monday morning in Hong Kong pending the release of price sensitive information, a company spokesperson said.

"At the request of Foxconn International Holdings Limited, trading in the shares of the company on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited has been suspended with effect from 10:02 am on June 7 pending the release of price sensitive information," said the company in a statement filed to the HK stock exchange.

Shares of Foxconn, the only constituent stock from Taiwan, closed at 5.66 HK dollars before trading suspension, down 5.5 percent from the previous closing.

Ten workers have killed themselves and three have attempted suicide at Foxconn's operations in Shenzhen this year, mainly workers who jumped from buildings, which raised wide concerns across the country.

Apart from pay raise, the trade union of the company also launched a series of arrangements, including a 24-hour reporting system for any abnormal behaviors and psychological instability.

A survey conducted by the city's human resources and social security department found that 72.5 percent of a sampling of Foxconn workers worked overtime and the monthly overtime amounted to an average of 28 hours, Xinhua News Agency reported.

A Taiwan industry leader, however, warned on Monday that the recent wage hikes in the mainland could force Taiwan electronics firms operating there to relocate to other Asian countries.

Chairman Arthur Chiao of the Taiwan Electronics and Electrical Appliances Association said his group is assisting mainland-based Taiwan companies to seek out new manufacturing sites in India, Indonesia and Vietnam in the wake of steadily rising labor costs on the mainland.

(China Daily June 8, 2010)