Counting the human cost of affordable electronics Twelve-hour shifts, compulsory overtime and one day off a month are among the practices employed at some China-based factories of Taiwan’s tech giants By Steven Crook / Contributing reporter Few companies have had their names dragged through the mud so comprehensively as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), a conglomerate known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) in Taiwan, which operates vast factories in China and other countries. The first time many people outside of Taiwan heard of Foxconn — the world’s largest manufacturer of consumer electronics — was in 2010, when a string of employee suicides attracted global interest.