Apple's largest iPhone manufacturer is taking emergency steps to stop workers fleeing its factories due to COVID lockdowns, by vastly increasing the daily allowance it gives to workers and boosting its monthly full attendance bonus.
The news follows shocking scenes at the weekend of workers scaling fences and fleeing Foxconn's Zhengzhou facility, colloquially known as iPhone city, over fears that positive COVID cases at the factory could lead to harsh lockdown measures.
A new report now says Foxconn has quadrupled the daily allowance workers receive, while also significantly raising the monthly full attendance bonus it pays out.
Sweetening the deal
Nikkei Asia reports Tuesday that Foxconn has increased the daily allowance for workers from 100 yuan ($13.75) to 400 yuan, almost $55. Meanwhile, Foxconn's "full attendance" bonus has been raised from 11,000 yuan to 15,000, more than $2,000. The full attendance bonus is only paid to workers who don't take any days off, and don't arrive either 30 minutes late or leave more than 30 minutes early, working at least eight hours a day. 60% of all of Apple's best iPhones including the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro are made in Zhengzhou, which is home to around 300,000 workers. According to local state media, the facility has been in closed-loop production since mid-October. This means that workers are not allowed to leave either the factory they are working in or their dormitories.
A worrying report Monday suggested the troubles could see iPhone production fall by up to 30% and make iPhone 14 even harder to get hold off this holiday season, with the best Black Friday iPhone deals promising to be the easiest way to get hold of one in the coming weeks.
