Foxconn has offered to pay newly recruited workers 10,000 yuan ($1,400) to quit and leave the Zhengzhou facility, which is the world largest iPhone assembly factory
The Apple supplier made the offer Wednesday following scenes of hundreds of workers clashing with security forces at the company’s compound in central China.
Besides a bonus payment delay earlier announced, workers complained they were forced to share dormitories with colleagues who had tested positive for Covid.
On Thursday the Taiwanese company apologized to the workers and said that a pay-related “technical error” occurred when hiring new recruits.
Many Foxconn employees have been fleeing the campus since October after management implemented a closed-loop system that isolated the plant, forcing the company to replace workers with thousands of new recruits.
The Taiwanese company campus is home to over 200,000 workers, where they make Apple devices including the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. Its production accounts for 70% of iPhone shipments globally.
The rare dissent scenes came as China reported another record high Covid infections on Thursday. Cities imposing local lockdowns, mass testing and other curbs are fueling frustration among the population and hitting the world’s second largest economy outlook.
Japanese brokerage Nomura cut its China GDP forecast for the fourth quarter to 2.4% year-over-year from 2.8%, and its full-year growth to 2.8% from 2.9%, far short of China’s official target of about 5.5% this year.
