Foxconn’s factories have long been criticized for poor working conditions, dragging its associated companies like Apple along with them. A New York Times report published a year ago detailed the poor conditions at Foxconn, and a follow-up report has revealed that things have improved since then.

In an effort to improve the labor conditions at the factories, a meeting with a “high-ranking” Apple official and “top executives” from Foxconn has resulted in increased wages and reduced work hours that are set to take effect this year. Other improvements include better chairs for workers, auto shut-off functionality for machinery to increase safety.

Foxconn manufactures products for many other companies besides Apple, and hopefully they’ll see the importance of proper and fair working conditions and make similar efforts — efforts that result in tangible improvements for all these workers.

[via The Verge]