A factory of iPhone assembler Foxconn in central China is reportedly offering bonuses of up to RMB 7,000 (around $996) to each new recruit in an effort to lure workers back to plants and restore normal production levels.
Why it matters: The Taiwanese contract manufacturer is struggling to resume production in China after the deadly Covid-19 virus stopped millions of migrant workers from returning to work after the Spring Festival holiday.
- Officials have also urged factories to restart operations. Local governments and enterprises have been sending trains, buses, and planes to help workers travel back to manufacturing hubs such as Shenzhen and Dongguan in Guangdong province.
- Delays in Foxconn’s production, a key manufacturer for Apple, Huawei, Amazon, Google, and many others, are likely to affect supply chains for several major electronics brands.
Details: Foxconn’s main iPhone assembly factory in Zhengzhou in central Henan province is offering RMB 7,000 as an incentive to new workers who meet certain requirements, Chinese business news site Star Market Daily reported on Sunday.
- New workers will have to clock in to work for more than 35 days to receive RMB 3,000 and more than 60 days to receive the remaining RMB 4,000, according to the report, citing an anonymous source working at a recruitment agency for the Foxconn plant.
- The report said that there are currently around 20,000 to 30,000 workers working in the plant. At its peak, the plant’s workforce numbered nearly 450,000 to meet iPhone demand, Chinese media reported.
- Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd., declined to confirm the hiring bonuses, saying that it “does not comment on operation details of specific plants” when contacted by TechNode on Tuesday, citing a company policy.
- The company said in a statement to TechNode that it is “closely cooperating with local governments’ call to resume operations” and is organizing workers to go back to work.
Context: China is pushing people to get back to work as the “world’s factory” tries to balance containing the Covid-19 outbreak that has killed more than 2,600 people and offsetting the hit to its economy.
- President Xi Jinping has called for local governments to “continue to make unremitting efforts in various prevention and control work and resume work and production in an orderly manner,” according to state media Xinhua.