Struggling for workers, Foxconn is giving ex-workers incentives to rejoin

Under pressure to keep up with iPhone production, Apple's lead manufacturer Foxconn, is offering bonuses of around $1,672 to workers who return to the plant.

Foxconn routinely offers bonuses as competes with rivals for workers in the area around its factories. It also regularly grows and shrinks its workforce as production requirements require.

However, the company has now been facing a combination of Chinese COVID lockdowns, and riots by factory workers over pay and conditions. Having paid some rioters to leave the company, it is now increasing bonuses in its attempt to get back to full production.

According to the South China Morning Post, the new bonuses are targeted in what Foxconn reportedly calls a "returning geese" recruitment drive. That is, the bonuses are intended to attract back staff who left Foxcon between October 1, 2022, and November 10, 2022.

At that point, Foxconn lost tens of thousands of workers because they fled over COVID lockdown and poor conditions. The new bonuses come from Foxconn's Integrated Digital Product Business Group, which is specifically responsible for iPhone production.

If staff who left within those dates not only return, but stay for two months, they can get bonuses adding up to 12,000 yuan ($1,672).

Foxconn has been able to work around lockdowns and staff shortages a little, by switching some iPhone production to India.

4 Comments

blastdoor 3568 comments · 15 Years

About 1 year ago

For 20 years Apple put all its eggs in the China basket with no plan B if things went way wrong.

Now things are going way wrong and Apple is scrambling to make up Plan B on the fly.

Sometimes it's really amazing what people can do when under tremendous pressure. I'm curios to see what Apple execs come up with.

waveparticle 1497 comments · 3 Years

Why Foxconn think incentives will work against a transmittable disease? People left because of heath concerns. Money cannot buy anything to all the people.

bestkeptsecret 4285 comments · 13 Years

"the bonuses are intended to attract back staff who left Foxcon between October 1, 2022, and November 10, 2022." So not the ones who were asked to resign after taking their bonus recently.

larryjw 1036 comments · 9 Years

blastdoor said:

For 20 years Apple put all its eggs in the China basket with no plan B if things went way wrong.

Now things are going way wrong and Apple is scrambling to make up Plan B on the fly.

Sometimes it's really amazing what people can do when under tremendous pressure. I'm curios to see what Apple execs come up with.

I’m not sure you appreciate how advanced China is in production. Foxconn is 100,000 workers low and that’s only 1/3 of their workforce. Is there any other country who has that manpower? It’s not as though there can be a plan B unless automation can brought in.

I haven’t seen many reports, certainly not recently, about the assembly process. What I did see previously was the process was very tedious, requiring a high degree of skill.

I remember a report during the depth of Covid that China built three new hospitals in days to care for patients. That manpower without precedence.

No. I doubt there is or can be a Plan B unless you’re willing to accept far less production.