Foxconn Offers Big Bonuses to Recruit Workers Ahead of Lunar New Year Holiday

Apple's largest manufacturing partner Foxconn is again offering bumper signing bonuses to new and former workers in an effort to boost recruitment at its Zhengzhou campus, one of its main iPhone factories in China, according to the South China Morning Post.

The report claims Foxconn is giving returning workers a signing bonus of 9,500 yuan ($1,470), in addition to a monthly income of 6,865 yuan ($1,080), at its sprawling production park, which employs more than a quarter of a million workers and produces an estimated 80% of the world's iPhones.

The Taiwan company has also promised an 8,500 yuan ($1,338) reward for new recruits hired through its internal referral program, as well as 1,000 yuan ($157) for the corresponding referrer. New joiners who applied on their own are being offered a 9,000 yuan ($1,417) bonus.

The same bonus package was previously offered in July, when the factory was ramping up production of the iPhone 13 series. On that occasion, the amount was in fact an increase on a record-high signing bonus Foxconn began offering the previous month.

The increased incentives indicate Foxconn's need for experienced workers ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which runs from January 31 to February 6, when migrant workers across China typically return home to be with their families.

The run-up to the holiday is also being impacted by a recent surge in Omicron and Delta coronavirus cases in Henan province, where authorities have put restrictions on people entering and leaving the region. In Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, Foxconn's production lines are said to be located in low-risk zones for infections, but the company is taking no chances and continues to conduct multiple rounds of testing on its workers.

Global demand for the iPhone 13 has remained steady going into 2022, having outstripped supply in the fourth quarter of last year by around 12 million units, with Apple selling 40 million iPhone 13 models over the holiday season, according to Wedbush analysts.