Foxconn Increases Wages, Gives Workers Bonuses to Staff to Quell Discontent Over COVID Curbs: Report

Apple supplier Foxconn has increased wages and is handing bonuses to workers at its Zhengzhou plant in central China, Chinese government-backed media reported, as it works to quell employee discontent at the site over COVID curbs.

Daily wages for employees, who are part of a Foxconn unit responsible for making electronics including smartphones at the site, have been raised to CNY 100 (roughly Rs. 1,130) between October 26 to November 11, the Henan Daily newspaper cited an unnamed head of the firm's integrated digital product business group unit as saying on Monday.

The company, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, is also giving all employees at the site who have attended work as normal since October 19 and complied with virus prevention measures a bonus of CNY 50 (roughly Rs. 570) a day, the person said.

Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Henan Daily article. The Henan Daily is the official newspaper of the province of Henan, of which Zhengzhou is the capital.

Foxconn is Apple's biggest iPhone maker, producing 70 percent of iPhone shipments globally. It makes most of the phones at the Zhengzhou plant where it employs about 200,000 people, though it has other smaller production sites in India and south China.

The Zhengzhou plant has been rocked by discontent over stringent measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, with several workers fleeing the site over the weekend.

Reuters reported on Monday, citing a source, that November production of iPhone handsets could slump by as much as 30 percent at the plant due to the situation and that Foxconn was working to boost production at another factory in Shenzhen city to make up for the shortfall.

© Thomson Reuters 2022