Like every year, in view of the start of mass production of the iPhone 15 for Apple, the Hon Hai Precision Industry, a company we know better as Foxconn, is increasing its workforce in the Chinese plant of Zhengzhou, also known as iPhone City , hiring new seasonal employees.
Despite having already increased the expected bonuses by a good three times in recent months, however, the company is still encountering serious difficulties not only in recruiting new personnel but also in retaining those already hired. Foxconn, in fact, would have provided incentives to all employees who will be able to stay on the production line for at least the next three monthsin order to overcome the most intense period and avoid what happened last year when COVID-19 also worsened the situation by forcing the population into a series of lockdowns.
Zhengzhou plant is the world’s largest iPhone manufacturing plant, employs over 200,000 workers And it assembles about 80% of the world’s iPhone supply. For Foxonn, ensuring sufficient production capacity throughout the summer will be imperative for Apple to meet demand for the upcoming iPhone 15s.
iPhone City, we recall, was also the focus of media attention late last year due to unrest caused by rioting employees after a COVID outbreak that had forced Foxconn to “lock them up” quarantined with meager supplies of food and medicine. Many employees, in order to return to their homes, decided to “escape”.
In the following months, after the return to normality, Foxconn offered bonuses which however had a limited effect. Failure to pay, in fact, led again to protests and theabandonment of many workers, about 20,000. Foxconn would then have decided on a third, even more substantial bonus, to try to convince employees to stay in the plant.
The new bonus, according to the South China Morning Post, it would go up to 3,000 yuan (about 450 euros) for those who will stay in the factory for at least 90 days, receiving an hourly wage of up to 21 yuan. Those who are already employees of the company, on the other hand, could get a bonus of about 500 yuan. Although they may seem low figures, if compared to our cost of living, they are still important sums that can represent about a month’s basic salary.
The employees would also have received reassurances from the CEO of Foxconn regarding the rumors of a possible gradual abandonment of the Zhengzhou plant in favor of an expansion in India that had already started several months ago and is strongly desired by Apple.
