Employees at the Chinese Apple supplier Foxconn have had to stay in the factory for weeks due to strict corona measures. After desperate protests, 20,000 workers are now leaving the site. There’s a small bonus waiting for them, but things are looking less rosy for iPhone production.
According to an insider, the recent unrest in the world’s largest iPhone factory of the Apple supplier Foxconn is affecting production more than previously thought before the important Christmas business. Manufacturing of Apple smartphones will fall by at least 30 percent instead of up to 30 percent as previously thought, a person familiar with the matter said. With the current exodus of employees, it is impossible to expand capacities again as planned by the end of the month. The factory in the central Chinese industrial metropolis of Zhengzhou mainly produces iPhone 14 models.
According to another insider, more than 20,000 mostly newly hired employees have left the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou. They have not yet been involved in production. The Taiwanese group admitted “technical errors” in the processing of new hires on Thursday and apologized after riots broke out on Wednesday out of frustration at withheld wages and bonuses and because of the far-reaching corona restrictions.
These were rare scenes of open disagreement in China. Foxconn then offered protesting newcomers a bonus of the equivalent of 1340 euros if they took their hat. Videos posted on Chinese online networks showed long lines of workers waiting for buses with their belongings.
Because of the recent record high corona infections in China, the Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou has been operating in a so-called closed cycle for weeks. This means that a total of 200,000 employees live and work on the site, isolated from the outside world. On the 1.4 square kilometer area there are not only halls of residence, but also restaurants and sports facilities. This Foxconn factory is almost as big as the main island of Heligoland.
The pandemic restrictions are also being tightened again in the rest of the People’s Republic. This dampens hopes of a speedy recovery in the world’s second largest economy and fuels fears of a recession in large parts of the world. According to investment bank Nomura, more than a fifth of China’s total gross domestic product is affected by lockdowns, a number that exceeds the size of the UK economy.
