Roger Fingas
Foxconn will launch its controversial Wisconsin factory in May 2020, Governor Tony Evers said this week, but the display and network hardware facility will only start up with 1,500 jobs.
That will leave it 300 jobs short of the 1,820 it needs by the end of 2020 to secure $270 million more tax credits out of a total $4 billion in incentives, CNBC said. The company missed a 2018 deadline by hiring a mere 156 people in the state instead of 260, and it's not yet known if it will reach the 520 people demanded in 2019 in exchange for $222 million.
It has until 2032 to reach 13,000 workers in total, a level promised when chairman Terry Gou and U.S. President Donald Trump broke ground on the factory in June 2018. At the time, Scott Walker was state Governor.
Foxconn has radically altered its plans over time. While it was one point offering an LCD factory measuring 20 million square feet, it's instead working on a complex one-twentieth the size. Instead of making 65-inch TV panels it will instead produce smaller LCDs, as well as assemble servers and other networking hardware.
An April expose showed that much of the company's presence in Wisconsin consisted of empty buildings, or even ones still occupied by other tenants. The lack of progress has created a major political issue in Wisconsin.
Foxconn is Apple's primary assembly partner, churning out iPhones and other devices, mostly out of Chinese plants. At one point it was rumored that the Wisconsin factory might help supply Apple, but that appears unlikely.
David Schloss
Christine McKee
Amber Neely
Malcolm Owen
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
Oliver Haslam
33 Comments
Sometimes things don’t work out as planned. As long as they’re serious about it then give them time to make it happen.
Just work on WTO rules that declare any sort of deals like this illegal government subsidies. Period.
There’s no need for corporate welfare payments like these. Let companies set up shop where it makes economic sense for them without distorting the market with tax-payer funded subsidies.
It’s amazing that those decrying socialism the loudest are the same people enthusiastically dishing out handouts to corporations.
Time to stop the insanity, then there’s no need for such controversies.
I see another article in a couple months saying that the number of employees will be reduced again. Phoney politics empty promises.
I did a search for the word ‘boondoggle’ and the top hit lead me to this article...
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These are long term plans going all the way until 2032 according to the article.
We'll see what happens.
And to start, 1,500 jobs is not bad, though I bet that TDS sufferers would be much more happy with zero.