Foxconn have had to deal with a raft of suicides in recent years, and it seems their latest plans might help resolve the issue completely. They are planning to replace some of their staff with 1 million robots within the next three years.

Terry Gou, the chairman of the company claims it will help to deal with rising labour costs and to improve operating efficiency.

The robots will be used to replace people to handle routine work such as welding, spraying and assembling. The company already have 10,000 robots on hand, and this will increase to 300,000 by next year, and to 1 million in three years.

Foxconn are the world's largest maker of computer components and they handle product assembly for Sony, Nokia and Apple. By moving to a predominantly robotic workforce it would help lower the suicide rate. Negatively, many people would lose their jobs.

Kitguru says: Robots are the future, no doubt about it. As the technology improves, we will start to see more of them throughout the workforce.

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