【英语中国】中国视点：富士康加薪的玄机

Being forced to raise wages by the levels that Foxconn parent Hon Hai has done is usually bad for the bottom line, especially for a company that operates on large volumes and razor-thin margins.

Some analysts had downgraded Hon Hai after the world's biggest contract electronics maker said it would increase the minimum wages of its workers by 30 per cent from July 1. Yet Sunday's surprise announcement that Hon Hai would now give workers who reach certain performance standards a further 66 per cent pay rise from October 1 has prompted quite a different reaction. While Hon Hai's previous raises were seen as responses to a spate of suicides at its factories, analysts say this big increase appears more of a strategic move, putting pressure on competitors to follow suit and allowing everyone to pass the cost to customers.

This ability to defend margins is common among Taiwanese technology companies, says Bhavtosh Vajpayee, head of technology research at CLSA. His study of 120 Taiwan tech companies showed that despite a double-digit annual increase in China wages over the past decade, margins have remained remarkably steady over that time. “Margins are lower today, and have fallen since 2008, thanks to the downturn. But through much of this decade, as wages rose, the tech industry has found a way to hold its own,” he said.

富士康(Foxconn)母公司鸿海(Hon Hai)被迫做出的大幅加薪举措，通常不利于公司的盈利，特别是对于一家规模巨大但利润微薄的公司而言。

当这家全球最大的电子产品代工制造商表示，从7月1日起员工最低工资将上调30%之后，一些分析师下调了鸿海的评级。然而，上周日，鸿海又意外宣布，将从10月1日起，对那些达到一定绩效标准的员工进一步加薪66%。此举引发的反应则大有不同。尽管鸿海此前的加薪举措被视为对其工厂发生连环自杀事件的回应，但分析人士表示，如此大的加薪幅度似乎更多的是一种战略举措，给竞争对手施加了压力，迫使其加以效仿，并让所有公司得以将成本转嫁给消费者。

里昂证券(CLSA)科技研究主管巴夫托什?瓦杰帕伊(Bhavtosh Vajpayee)表示，这种保护利润率的能力在台湾科技公司中相当常见。他对120家台湾科技公司的调查显示，尽管过去10年，中国大陆工人薪酬年度增幅达到两位数，但值得关注的是，期间公司利润率一直保持稳定。他表示：“由于经济低迷，如今，利润率更低，并且从2008年开始不断下滑。然而，在这个10年的大部分时间里，在薪资上涨的同时，科技行业已找到了维持自身状况的方法。”

译者/梁艳裳