Apple supplier Foxconn is offering signing bonuses for returning and new workers at its Zhengzhou facilities in China.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
- Foxconn is giving returning workers a signing bonus of up to 9,500 Chinese yuan ($1,498.)
- New joiners will get up to around 9,000 Chinese yuan ($1,419.)
- Foxconn’s Zhengzhou production site accounts for half of the world’s iPhone production.
Apple supplier Foxconn is reportedly offering around $1,500 in signing bonuses — more than a month of wages — to attract workers in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, also known as iPhone city.
Foxconn will give returning workers a sign-on bonus of 9,500 Chinese yuan ($1,498) on top of their monthly wages of 6,865 Chinese yuan ($1,082,) and first-time employees will receive 9,000 Chinese yuan ($1,419,) according to the South China Morning Post, citing a job posting.
Foxconn’s Zhengzhou production site employs more than 300,000 workers and accounts for half of the world’s iPhone production, according to the SCMP.
Foxconn’s hiring bonuses come amid a surge in the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in Zhengzhou, located in Henan province. Parts of the city are under lockdown, and there are travel restrictions for those entering and exiting the area, which limits hiring.
Foxconn said last week that the outbreak had not affected production at the Zhengzhou factory, China’s Yicai news outlet reported.
The factory’s hiring plans are also complicated by Chinese New Year, which starts on February 1. Tens of millions of Chinese typically travel back to their hometowns to spend the festival with their families and take off days or weeks from work. Many offices close for the two-week duration of the holiday.
MacRumors reported Apple sold 40 million iPhone 13s over the holiday season, citing Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives. Demand outstripped supply by around 12 million units in the fourth quarter of last year, Ives added.
Foxconn did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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