After offering disruptive workers at its Chinese iPhone plant $1,400 to leave, Foxconn is now offering some staff $1,800 to stay and work

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After offering disruptive workers at its Chinese iPhone plant $1,400 to leave, Foxconn is now offering some staff $1,800 to stay and work
Riot police in protective gear at the Foxconn plant, also known as iPhone City.via Reuters; Mustafa Seven/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
  • Protests have raged at Foxconn's giant iPhone production facility in China amid strict COVID rules.
  • So many workers are leaving the facility that Apple now expects a major production shortfall.
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Foxconn, a Chinese firm which runs the world's largest iPhone factory, is offering some workers $1,800 bonuses to stay at work amid unrest over China's zero-COVID strategy and strict lockdowns at the facility in Zhengzhou, per Bloomberg.

Workers have protested, sometimes violently, in recent weeks in response to strict protocols for workers during a substantial COVID outbreak at the plant, which employs as many as 200,000 workers, most of whom live in on-site dormitories, earning it the nickname "iPhone City."

Last month, Foxconn implemented a "closed-loop system" because of the country's zero-COVID strategy, which has prompted uprisings across China this weekend.

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Infected workers were unable to leave their dormitories, and given just basic supplies like bread and instant noodles, resulting in hundreds of escapees. Bloomberg reported on a brother and sister who walked 25-miles down a highway to escape the Foxconn plant.

The unrest then turned into rioting on November 22, as Foxconn workers were filmed fighting with security guards. Rioters were seen throwing metal barricades at officials and smashing security cameras.

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To try and calm the tensions, Foxconn offered protestors $1,400 to leave – more than the average monthly wage for factory workers, per Bloomberg.

The company had previously offered $420 bonuses to new workers if they completed 30 days work, but workers rebelled after being told this would be delayed until March 2023, according to Reuters. These newer workers sparked the dramatic scenes and over 20,000 of them have now left.

iPhone City is apparently struggling to maintain staff numbers as a result, with a new $1,800 bonus on offer to those who will stay – but recipients must have joined at the start of November or earlier.

The 13,000 yuan bonus is nearly double the monthly wage of 6,865 yuan, per the South China Morning Post, and would be paid out at the end of December and January.

Apple is predicted to see a shortfall of 6 million iPhone Pros in coming months as a result of the protests.

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