Tim Cook on the Working Conditions at Apple Factories

Jessica Vascellaro, reporting for the WSJ:

“I have spent a lot of time in factories over my lifetime and we are clearly leading in this area,” said Mr. Cook, previously Apple’s chief operating officer who oversaw its supply chain. “It is like innovating in products. You can focus on things that are barriers or you can focus on scaling the wall or redefining the problem.”

Example:

The report also found 24 facilities conducted pregnancy tests and 56 didn’t have procedures to prevent discrimination against pregnant workers. Apple said that at its direction, the suppliers have stopped discriminatory screenings for medical conditions or pregnancy.

Update: MacRumors has a copy of the company-wide email Tim Cook sent out about this.

★ Friday, 13 January 2012