There was also a series of suicides which were speculatively linked to low pay in 2010, though employees also noted Foxconn paid higher wages than similar jobs.[1] In reaction to a spate of worker suicides in which 14 people died in 2010,[2] Foxconn installed suicide-prevention netting at the base of buildings in some facilities[143] and promised to offer substantially higher wages at its Shenzhen production bases.[144] In 2011, Foxconn also hired the PR firm Burson-Marsteller to help deal with the negative publicity from the suicides. That year, the nets seemed to help lower the death rate, although at least four employees died by throwing themselves off buildings.[5]