Foxconn reportedly dangles US$1,000 bonus for new workers as it resumes production

The Taiwanese electronics maker is said to be offering new hires at its Zhengzhou plant incentives that could be worth several months of their basic pay

Delays in production schedules due to the coronavirus outbreak “will have a negative impact” on Foxconn’s annual revenues, it said in a statement

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People work on machines at the Foxconn factory in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China, 28 May 2018. File photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 6:15am, 25 Feb 2020Updated: 6:15am, 25 Feb 2020

Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, is dangling big bonuses to lure new workers after its factories in China were shut down during the coronavirus outbreak, according to local reports.

The Taiwanese company – which is the main assembler of iPhones – had to delay the reopening of its factories until after the Lunar New Year holiday as part of efforts to contain the outbreak.

It said last Thursday that it would “cautiously” resume output at its main factories in China, and local media outlets reported last week that it was giving returning workers a bonus of 3,000 yuan (US$427) over the span of three months for starting on time.

Now, it is offering new hires in its main assembly site in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan province, up to 7,000 yuan (US$995) in incentives if they meet certain conditions, according to a report by tech news site chinastarmarket.cn, citing local employment agencies.

New employees can receive 3,000 yuan after clocking 60 days of work and another 4,000 yuan after 90 days, according to a video report by financial newspaper National Business Daily on Sunday. The Post reported last year that the monthly income of workers of the factory was between 2,000 and 3,000 yuan, based on interviews with more than two dozen workers.

The fat incentives could be an effort to make up for lost time due to the closures. “We can confirm that the virus-related production schedules will have a negative impact on our annual revenues,” Foxconn said in a written statement in response to enquiries by the Post.