Published on :
Almost 700 euros: this is the new bonus offered by Foxconn to the workers of the largest iPhone factory in China. The offer is valid for employees who agree to work until March, as the easing of health measures worsens the labor shortage in the supply chain.
With our correspondent in Beijing, Stephane Lagarde
Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant is far from having regained its full capacity. Despite help from local authorities, recruitment campaigns and salary hikes, subcontractor Apple is struggling to hire.
However, it is in this industrial campus, a veritable city in the city located near the airport of the capital of the central province of Henan, that 80% of iPhones “made in China” are produced. Last fall’s workers’ revolt severely disrupted production, as well as shipping of the latest models.
Factories slowed down by infections
Images Riots against degraded working conditions with health restrictions, also following the non-compliance with certain fixed-term contracts, have traveled around the world. Above all, they have alerted the central government to the increase in social discontent linked to the zero Covid strategy. We have since known that the founder of Foxconn then wrote a letter to Chinese leaders, warning them of the economic risks of an extension of the policy of absolute non-tolerance with the virus.
Since then, the restrictive measures have been lifted, but the outbreak of infections paralyzes part of the assembly lines. What led to these new financial incentives for employees who occupy key positions in the production of Apple-branded smartphones from January 1 to March 20, in other words for those who agree not to go on vacation during the Lunar New Year holiday.
According to market research firm Trendforce, quoted by the South China Morning Post, the Omicron tsunami could lead to a 22% decline in iPhone shipments in the first quarter of 2023.
►Also worth listening to is Liu Young-way, the discreet president of the giant Foxconn
