Apple supplier Foxconn apologizes for hiring blunder at COVID-hit China plant

TAIPEI/SHANGHAI  – Apple’s major supplier Foxconn said on Thursday a “technical error” occurred when hiring new recruits at a COVID-hit iPhone factory in China and apologized to workers after the company was rocked by fresh labor unrest.

Men smashed surveillance cameras and clashed with security personnel as hundreds of workers protested at the world’s biggest iPhone plant in Zhengzhou city on Wednesday, in rare scenes of open dissent in China sparked by claims of overdue pay and frustration over severe COVID-19 restrictions.

Workers said on videos circulated on social media that they had been informed that Foxconn intended to delay bonus payments. Some workers also complained they were forced to share dormitories with colleagues who had tested positive for COVID.

“Our team has been looking into the matter and discovered a technical error occurred during the onboarding process,” Foxconn said in a statement, referring to the hiring of new workers.

“We apologize for an input error in the computer system and guarantee that the actual pay is the same as agreed and the official recruitment posters.” It did not elaborate on the error.

The factory has been rocked by worker unrest and discontent since October.

The latest unrest has exposed communication problems and a mistrust of Foxconn management among some staff, with some workers accusing the company of not acting effectively to curb the spread of COVID and then misleading them over wages.

Foxconn‘s apology on Thursday was an about-face from a day earlier when it said it had fulfilled its payment contracts.

The largest protests had died down by Thursday and the company was communicating with employees engaged in smaller protests, a Foxconn source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The person said the company had reached “initial agreements” with employees to resolve the dispute and production at the plant continued on Thursday.

The Taiwanese company said it would respect the wishes of new recruits who wanted to resign and leave the factory campus, and would offer them “care subsidies”. The Foxconn source said the subsidies amounted to 10,000 yuan ($1,400) per worker.

Zhengzhou is conducting mass COVID testing as daily cases across China reach record highs, with cities nationwide imposing lockdowns and other curbs.

Apple risks

Home to over 200,000 workers, Foxconn‘s Zhengzhou plant has dormitories, restaurants, basketball courts and a football pitch across its sprawling roughly 1.4 million square metre facility.

The factory makes Apple Inc devices including the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, and accounts for 70 percent of iPhone shipments globally.

Apple said it had staff at the factory and was “working closely with Foxconn to ensure their employees’ concerns are addressed”.

Several shareholder activists told Reuters the protests showed the risks Apple faces through its reliance on manufacturing in China.

“The extreme dependence of Apple on China, both as a (consumer) market and as its place of primary manufacturing, we see that a very risky situation,” said Christina O’Connell, a senior manager for SumOfUs, a nonprofit corporate accountability group.

Reuters earlier reported that iPhone output at the Zhengzhou factory could slump by as much as 30% in November following worker unrest last month, and that Foxconn aimed to resume full production there by the second half of the month.

Apple has warned it expects lower shipments of premium iPhone 14 models than previously anticipated.

Foxconn shares closed up 0.5 percent on Thursday, versus a 1.2 percent gain in the broader market.

($1 = 7.1353 Chinese yuan renminbi)