Foxconn in China Offers Special Bonuses to Prevent Workforce Attrition

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Foxconn, the world's largest iPhone manufacturer, is offering special bonuses to prevent labor shortages during the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) holiday.

This comes amid the spread of COVID-19 in Henan Province, where Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory is located, raising concerns that workers who returned home for the holiday may not come back.

According to the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 18th,

Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory announced through a company notice that workers returning to the production line after the Spring Festival holiday will receive a special bonus of 9,500 yuan (about 1.78 million KRW) in addition to their regular monthly salary of 6,865 yuan (about 1.29 million KRW).

Last September, ahead of the launch of the new iPhone 13, Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory also offered special bonuses to recruit production workers.

At that time, the Zhengzhou factory posted job advertisements offering peak season special bonuses on the condition of working for at least 90 days.

The special bonus was 10,000 yuan in the first announcement at the end of July last year, but it rose to as much as 12,700 yuan in August of the same year.

Recently, COVID-19 cases have been increasing in Henan Province. Not only Delta variant infections but also highly transmissible Omicron variant infections have been confirmed.

Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory is still operating normally without production disruptions due to COVID-19.

On the 11th, the Zhengzhou factory conducted the sixth round of nucleic acid testing for all employees within the factory.

Employees who do not undergo nucleic acid testing are not allowed to enter production facilities.

Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory employs about 350,000 workers. It operates around 90 production lines and has the capacity to produce an average of 500,000 iPhones per day.

The Taiwanese company Foxconn is Apple's largest partner, producing about half of all iPhones.

Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory mainly produces Apple's latest smartphone, the iPhone 13.

The factory's operations were temporarily suspended in July last year due to massive flooding in Henan Province.