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Foxconn Says Current Hiring Freeze Due to Strong Returning Workforce, Not Waning iPhone 5 Demand

Wednesday February 20, 2013 5:54 am PST by Eric Slivka
foxconn_iphone_girlFinancial Times reported earlier today that Foxconn has enacted a hiring freeze at most of its Chinese facilities due to reduced demand for the iPhone 5.
“Currently, none of the plants in mainland China have hiring plans,” said Liu Kun, a company spokesman at Foxconn’s largest manufacturing facility, in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen across the border from Hong Kong.

Human resources officials at Foxconn’s largest factories, local government officials and external recruiters working with the company said there had been internal notices on Tuesday and Wednesday to halt hiring until at least the end of March, in response to reduced orders for the iPhone 5.
Recruiters specifically pointed to hiring freezes at Foxconn's massive facilities in Shenzhen, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, and Chengdu, all of which focus on assembly of iPhones and iPads.

An expectation of hiring picking up again in late March would be in line with rumors of Apple beginning to ramp up production of the iPhone 5S, but a Foxconn spokesman told Bloomberg that the current hiring freeze actually has nothing to do with waning demand for Apple products.
Foxconn halted recruitment until the end of March after more employees returned from the Chinese New Year break than a year earlier, Bruce Liu, a spokesman for the Taipei-based company, said today in a phone interview. The decision wasn’t related to iPhone 5 production, he said.
The Chinese New Year festivities last for several weeks, with many factories running at greatly reduced capacity as workers return to their homes. The offical two-week festivities conclude with the annual Lantern Festival, which takes place this Sunday, February 24.

[ 46 comments ]


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lamerica80
79 months ago
The girl in the picture is happy because its her 12th birthday.
Rating: 14 Votes
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psac
79 months ago
She's cute.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Darth.Titan
79 months ago

Foxconn probably forced that factory worker to pose with the smile on her face, or she'd lose her job. lol


The girl in the picture is happy because its her 12th birthday.


She's cute.


Hi cuteeee, Please don't scratch my iPhone.....


What, does no one remember iPhone Girl? (https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=547777)
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
Rogifan
79 months ago

I believe Foxconn!

The hiring freeze has nothing to do with reduced demand for the iPhone 5. That would be way too hard to accept. So I will believe Foxconn.


Because the Financial Times is more reliable? :confused:

If there was any truth to the FT story Foxconn would most likely have said "we don't comment on blah blab blah".
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
Yogomi
79 months ago
It's so interesting that Apple is portrayed as the reason for hiring freeze out of all these companies:

Acer Inc.
Amazon.com
Apple Inc.
Cisco
Dell
Google
Hewlett-Packard
Microsoft
Motorola Mobility
Nintendo
Nokia
Sony
Toshiba
Vizio

These are all customers of Foxconn. Are they saying the iPhone 5 even keeps these other companies in business to require the need for the employees they have now?

Go.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
Nunyabinez
79 months ago

Haha, so that pic is from like 4.5 years ago! Then again, Asians don't really age between 15 and 45 so maybe this pic is from yesterday.


I'm sure you've all see this before, but it's always funny. And not intended to be racist, at least on my part.

Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
Chlloret
79 months ago

It's so interesting that Apple is portrayed as the reason for hiring freeze out of all these companies:

Acer Inc.
Amazon.com
Apple Inc.
Cisco
Dell
Google
Hewlett-Packard
Microsoft
Motorola Mobility
Nintendo
Nokia
Sony
Toshiba
Vizio

These are all customers of Foxconn. Are they saying the iPhone 5 even keeps these other companies in business to require the need for the employees they have now?

Go.


Good point. Apple is responsable for 9-14% of manufacture, up to 15% of turnover for Foxconn. Out of that, the iPhone5 is 1, maybe 2%. There are still about the same numbers of 4S and 4 being build. So, this 2% of manufacturing capacity should be responsible for a hiring freeze?
And the introduction of the first 30000 robots (out of a planed 1M) has also nothing to do with it. The massive decline in Dell computers, the loss of Samsung manufacture to there own factories (smaller hands) the reduction by 50% of Surface Tablets, the virtual standstill in Sony Playstations (all made in whole or in part by Foxconn) is not a contributing factor?

So the company comes out and explains even why there is no relation to the iPhone5, a tiny blob in the grand picture of 1.2 million Fosconn employees, and still someone tries to make a story about it? Is there no real news?
Rating: 2 Votes
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GermanyChris
79 months ago

When did I say anything about iOS? :confused: Foxconn has DENIED this has anything to do with iPhone 5. Why should we believe FT over Foxconn? Especially when media FUD around Apple is quite typical?


"Human resources officials at Foxconn's largest factories, local government officials and external recruiters working with the company said there had been internal notices on Tuesday and Wednesday to halt hiring until at least the end of March, in response to reduced orders for the iPhone 5"

The PR mouth at Foxconn that works for the president of the company (most likley) who has a vested interest in said company denies..

Last I check the iPhone was an iOS device
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
Sayer
79 months ago
And a silver shortage was responsible for the delays in getting the new iMac into customer's hands.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
PracticalMac
79 months ago
Shes cute!
Rating: 1 Votes

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