Microsoft Investigates Foxconn Plant Worker Protest

Earlier in the week, we talked about workers at a Foxconn plant in China that threatened to kill themselves by jumping off the roof over a compensation dispute. The original report was that there were 300 workers involved. According to PC World, there were only 150 involved in the protest. Microsoft has investigated since the protest was at its Xbox 360 production facility.

Microsoft reportedly found that the protest had nothing to do with working conditions and was due to staffing assignments and transfer policies at Foxconn. PC World cited a Microsoft statement that said the transfer or voluntary termination offer was made due to "regular production adjustments." Apparently, only 45 of those workers decided to resign and take the bonuses and pay due to them depending on how long they worked there. The remainder was to be sent to other production lines. No one jumped from the rooftop during the protest.

The part about this that jumps out at me is that the Xbox 360 is still selling very well and is generally the best selling of all three consoles on the market. If you have the best selling console on the market, why would you need to slow production? Could this be an indication that the new Xbox 720 (or whatever it will be called) could be closer than we think? Pure speculation mind you, but an interesting thought.

[via PCWorld]