Lacking workers, Foxconn offers big rewards to find people to assemble iPhone 17

In order to maintain production to meet the iPhone 17 launch schedule, Apple's largest factory in China has significantly increased the wages of contract workers.

Foxconn is struggling to find workers. Photo: Reuters .

Ahead of the iPhone 17 launch in September, Apple’s main contract manufacturer, Foxconn Technology Group, has stepped up hiring in China, offering higher wages and bonuses to assembly workers at its factories in Zhengzhou and Shenzhen.

The world’s largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, in central China’s Hunan province, has started raising wages to attract temporary workers. One of Foxconn’s recruiting companies posted on Wechat that workers who have been working at the factory for three months will be eligible for a bonus of up to 8,000 yuan (more than $1,100 ), nearly double the 4,500 yuan offered in early July.

Hourly rates were raised to 24 yuan in mid-July, 25 yuan late last month and 27 yuan in early August, according to recruitment firm Zhengzhou Fugonglian Human Resources. Workers can now earn 28 yuan an hour.

In Shenzhen, a tech hub in southern Guangdong province, Foxconn’s Integrated Digital Products Business Group is offering 26 yuan an hour to contract workers, according to a recruitment notice posted on WeChat on Aug. 20. The center, which produces smartphones, said the pay will last until Nov. 30.

The post also said that workers in charge of other products in the same factory were paid less. For example, the unit that produces Bluetooth headphones was paid only 22 yuan per hour.

Foxconn, headquartered in Taiwan and officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, entered its peak hiring season in July and will “increase recruitment efforts in the coming period to meet production needs,” according to Securities Times .

Apple's booth at the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua.

Foxconn's Zhengzhou facility, which opened in 2010, contributes about 60% of Henan province's total trade volume, according to Fang Siming, the company's assistant human resources manager, who works there.

However, Foxconn has faced some challenges in recent years. Production in Zhengzhou was significantly disrupted in late 2022 when thousands of workers fled in fear of harsh Covid-19 control measures. To maintain production, Foxconn introduced a three-month stay bonus of 10,000 yuan earlier that year, and hourly wages peaked at 31 yuan in late August 2022.

The pandemic has prompted Apple to ramp up production outside of China. In India, the company has expanded iPhone production to five local factories operated by Foxconn and the giant Tata Group. For the first time, India will expand its manufacturing role to all four iPhone 17 models, including the high-end Pro version, Bloomberg reported on August 19.

In April, as Mr. Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese imports by as much as 145%, iPhone exports from India to the U.S. jumped 76% year-on-year to about 3 million units, while those from China fell about 76% to 900,000 units, according to data from market research firm Canalys.

Source: https://znews.vn/thieu-cong-nhan-foxconn-thuong-to-de-tim-nguoi-lap-iphone-17-post1578556.html