A new report into iPhone manufacturer Foxconn's operations in China claims it is still using more temporary staff than the law allows — but also that the Chinese efforts are losing out to India.

Apple launches its new iPhones every September — although that may be changing — and consequently manufacturers are at their busiest in the summer. Without fail, Foxconn has for years hired very many temporary staff, such as 50,000 more in August 2024 for the iPhone 16 range.

Once the iPhones have launched and demand has been met, Foxconn lets those workers go. As Le Monde describes in a new report, it makes iPhone assembly seasonal work.

Peak iPhone production is in August each year. According to the report, in November, Apple ceases ordering iPhones, and workers are either let go or leave.

"This is how the relationship works between the two companies, their 'business model, and it isn't focused on people," Li Qiang, founder of China Labor Watch told the publication. "Foxconn employs temporary labor only when needed, just as Apple uses Foxconn only when it needs to."

As long as the labor pool is available, this seems to be an inevitable consequence of when production happens. But China Labor Watch has reportedly long been concerned about overall conditions at Foxconn.

Li says that subcontracting work to Foxconn lets Apple avoid responsibility for the workers. China Labor Watch also claims that over half of all workers are such temporary ones.

That's despite Chinese law limiting temporary staff to 10% of a company's workforce. The same organization reported that Foxconn was doing this back in 2019.

Outside a Foxconn facility in Zhengzhou

As well as any issue with legal hiring requirements, Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant — known as "iPhone City" — has also previously seen hundreds of workers rioting over conditions.

Base salary and bonuses

So the work is seasonal and the conditions are poor. But wages are also said to be very low — except when Foxconn has to pay bonuses. Reportedly, it is bonuses that make workers sign up for such work, and also makes them stay for the whole iPhone production season.

Specifically, the base salary for an iPhone assembler at Foxconn is $295 per month. That's the legal minimum, and it's also just under half the average wage in Zhengzhou.

There appear to always be bonuses, either for signing or for remaining for a certain time. However, the amount is said to be close to zero at the start of the year — and it rises to 1,380 per month in the August peak.

Workers appear to game the system as much as they can to join when it is most profitable. They then move on as soon as the peak is over, and they look for work elsewhere.

Despite the conditions and the pay, it used to be that Foxconn employed around 300,000 workers during peak demand. That was around 2016/2017, but subsequently the number has declined to where it is now only 150,000 workers.

This is said to be due to how 20% of all iPhones are now assembled in India. The move to using India as a manufacturing country has been radically increased in 2025 as Apple works to avoid China tariffs.