Foxconn Apologizes After Workers Revolt At World’s Largest iPhone Factory - Forbes

Topline

Apple supplier Foxconn on Thursday issued an apology for chaos at its Zhengzhou plant—the world’s largest iPhone factory—and offered compensation worth $1,400 to disgruntled workers who decide to leave the plant, a day after violent clashes broke out between factory workers and security personnel over delayed payments and poor living conditions caused by China’s zero-Covid policy.

Key Facts

According to Reuters, Foxconn blamed the chaos on a “technical error” in its hiring process for new workers which triggered concerns among staff that they would not receive a bonus payment promised to them at the time of recruitment.

Foxconn did not elaborate on the nature of the error but pushed back against reports of a Covid-19 outbreak in its worker dormitories, calling them “patently untrue.”

A bonus payment and higher wages were promised to all new recruits in an effort to get workers to return to the plant after several fled the premises in October over Covid concerns and poor living conditions.

Several new recruits, however, began protesting after they found out that they would receive these special bonuses only if they stayed at the factory until March, Bloomberg reported.

To quell the worker anger, Foxconn has offered ¥10,000 ($1,400) compensation to new recruits who choose to leave the plant, saying it would respect their wishes.

Due to China’s restrictive zero-Covid policy, workers at the factory have been forced to live on-site in a closed bubble—isolated inside dorms where they face food shortages and lack of proper access to medicines among other things.

News Peg

The massive so-called ‘iPhone City’ manufacturing campus, which houses more than 200,000 people, broke out in protest on Wednesday, prompting officials in Zhengzhou to issue lockdown orders in parts of the city deemed “high risk.” People in these areas have been ordered to stay at home while the rest of the city’s residents have been urged to only step out for necessary tasks. This new lockdown is unlikely to have a major impact on the iPhone factory itself as it was already designated a “high risk” zone, with workers not allowed to leave the large campus.

What To Watch For

While Apple hasn’t issued a statement on the impact of Wednesday's clashes, the company earlier this month warned about a delay in shipments of its flagship iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max phones due to “Covid-19 restrictions” in Zhengzhou. On Apple’s website, the estimated delivery time for an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max shows up as six weeks as of Thursday.