China asks retired military to fill posts at Foxconn's iPhone factory

Faced with Foxconn struggling to resume full iPhone production after local COVID measures, China is asking ex-forces retirees to step in.

The impact of China's coronavirus lockdown has been marked enough for Foxconn to report of a severe revenue hit, and Apple to issue a rare statement about production delays. Foxconn has also, though, seen workers fleeing its Zhengzhou plant, further hampering its attempts to resume production.

According to the South China Morning Post, local authorities in the province are now trying to help. As part of a wider campaign for recruitment, the Veteran Affairs Bureau has posted an open letter to retired People's Liberation Army (PLA) personnel.

Officials in Changge county, are asking ex-PLA people to "answer the government's call," and "take part in the resumption of production" at Foxconn Zhengzhou. The open letter calls on their history of service and asks that they "show up where there's a need."

Separately, local authorities have been attempting to recruit temporary staff from nearby cities.

In the meantime, Foxconn is also stepping up efforts to reduce its dependency on China by expanding production in India.

16 Comments

blastdoor 3594 comments · 15 Years

About 2 years ago

Fascinating. I wonder if this means that those 'local authorities' are not as willing as Xi to discard all the benefits of productive engagement with Western companies. They might be whistling int he wind, but it's interesting to see.

DAalseth 3066 comments · 6 Years

“No we have no connection to the government” says every Chinese and Russian company.
But when the going gets tough, their true colours appear.
The leopard cannot change its spots.

badmonk 1336 comments · 11 Years

China never ceases to fascinate me. Foxconn is a Taiwanese company by the way DAalseth.

DAalseth said:

“No we have no connection to the government” says every Chinese and Russian company.
But when the going gets tough, their true colours appear.
The leopard cannot change its spots.

Yes, but Foxconn is Taiwanese, so that doesn't exactly apply here.

But it doesn't exactly not apply either.... every foreign company, including Apple, must yield to the absolute power of Emperor Xi if they want to do business in China. That's one of the biggest chinks in Apple's privacy armor --- Apple can say 'no' when a US or European government makes an illegal request for access to private data. But in China, all requests by Dear Leader are de facto legal, there's no appeals process. So when Apple says 'we follow the laws of the countries we operate in,' just know that means 'we will do whatever Xi tells us to do (within the limits of the laws of physics).' Which is why it's so important for Apple to NOT have the ability to decrypt your iPhone. The second Apple gains that ability, Xi has that ability.