Over 20,000 Employees, Including New Hires, Leave Apple Supplier Foxconn's China Plant: Report

The departures of 20,000 employees would complicate Foxconn’s previous target of resuming full production by the end of November, following workers' unrest, according to sources

The labour unrest at the Zhengzhou plant that began on Wednesday marked rare scenes of open dissent in China which workers say was fueled claims of overdue pay and frustration over severe Covid-19 restrictions.

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Over 20,000 employees, most of them were new hires not yet working on the production line, have left Apple supplier Foxconn’s Zhengzhou facility in China, a Foxconn source privy to the matter told Reuters on Friday. According to Reuter’s report, the source said the departures of 20,000 employees would complicate Foxconn’s previous target of resuming full production by the end of November, following workers' unrest that rocked production unit at the world's largest iPhone factory.

Foxconn, however, declined to Reuter’s request for comment.

The workers left the unit after the Taiwanese firm offered on Thursday 10,000 yuan ($1,396) to employees who wanted to resign and leave the chaos-hit plant. The company had also apologised for committing a pay-related ‘technical error’ when hiring new recruits, which workers say was a factor that led to protests involving clashes with security personnel.

Videos posted on Chinese social media on Friday showed crowds and long lines of luggage-laden workers queuing for buses. “It’s time to go home,” one of the posters said.

The labour unrest at the Zhengzhou plant that began on Wednesday marked rare scenes of open dissent in China which workers say was fueled claims of overdue pay and frustration over severe Covid-19 restrictions.

Another Foxconn source familiar with the matter said some new hires had left the campus but did not elaborate on how many.

The person said the departures had no impact on current production, as the new staff still needed to take training courses before working online.

The unrest comes at a time when China is logging record numbers of Covid-19 infections and grappling with more and more lockdowns that have fuelled frustration among citizens across the country. But it has also exposed communication problems and a mistrust of Foxconn management among some staff.

Foxconn launched a hiring drive earlier this month promising bonuses and higher salaries after it had to enact measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 in October. The curbs forced the company to isolate many employees and the plant’s conditions prompted several to flee.