Apple supplier Foxconn puts Zhengzhou workers on leave amid worst flooding in Henan province in a century
- Tens of thousands of workers at two Foxconn facilities in Zhengzhou were told not to show up to work, but largest plant remained open
- Dubbed iPhone City, the Henan capital has already seen several deaths and catastrophic damage from flooding caused by record rainfall
Workers at Foxconn plants in Zhongmu county and the Zhengzhou Export Processing Zone said they have been given a day off after the provincial capital was hit by record rainfall. The worst flood to hit Henan in nearly a century has so far claimed at least 25 lives and displaced more than 100,000 people throughout the province.
The company is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronic gadgets and best known for assembling Apple’s iPhones, iPads and smartwatches. Zhengzhou, a city of 10 million people, is often dubbed iPhone City, because more than half of Apple’s smartphones are assembled there at Foxconn facilities.
The company’s biggest plant in the city, with the capacity to churn out 500,000 phones a day, is located near the city’s airport, while the two affected plants are smaller assemblies. Its combined workforce of the Zhengzhou facilities surpasses 250,000, according to Chinese media, and has occasionally exceeded 300,000.
In a statement on Wednesday, Taipei-based Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision, said it was “closely monitoring the situation” and that its largest facility had seen “no direct impact”. Employees at that plant still needed to show up to work. The company did not respond to questions about the Zhongmu and Export Processing Zone plants.