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Apple contractor Foxconn offers 5,000 yuan subsidy to retain workers at world’s largest iPhone factory

  • Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant is offering a 5,000 yuan subsidy for employees who keep working in key roles from January 1 to March 20
  • The plant is still struggling to resume full capacity after workers clashed with guards over draconian Covid-19 controls last month

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A medical worker takes a swab to test a Foxconn Technology Group employee for Covid-19 in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province, on August 5, 2021. Photo: AP
Tracy Quin Shanghai
Foxconn Technology Group's plant in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, site of the world’s largest iPhone factory, is offering a 5,000 yuan (US$718) bonus for employees who agree to work until late March, signifying persistent labour problems at the plant.

Foxconn’s Zhengzhou facility is still struggling to resume full capacity after workers clashed with guards over draconian Covid-19 controls last month, in scenes that shocked the world. Since then, the sudden relaxation of China’s zero-Covid policy by Beijing has led to a surge in infections across the country.

Apple’s stock price has also hit its lowest level since the summer of 2020, partly due to concerns about supply disruptions. Apple said in early November that the exodus of workers at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory had caused “significant” disruptions to its iPhone shipments.

According to a WeChat post published by Foxconn’s integrated Digital Product Business Group, the division responsible for iPhone production, the Zhengzhou plant is offering a 5,000 yuan subsidy for employees in key manufacturing department roles from January 1 to March 20, a 4,700 yuan subsidy for those in non-key roles, and 4,500 yuan for workers in other departments.

Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, said it will provide a list of employees who qualify for the subsidy on March 10. The bonuses will be paid on March 20, while workers will need to be a valid employee as of that date to receive the subsidy, according to its WeChat post.

The Zhengzhou facility also extended its “show up” bonus payments for employees. Workers are entitled to a 6,000 yuan bonus if they work more than 23 days in January 2023, according to the factory’s notice.

Foxconn, which is Apple’s main iPhone supplier, has been scrambling to restore full production capacity in Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan province, following severe disruptions including worker protests that turned violent and the exodus of tens of thousands of employees.
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