Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn is offering a signing bonus of $1,470 to recruit experienced production line workers for one of its main iPhone plants in Zhengzhou, China.
Foxconn is offering $1,500 signing bonuses to recruit workers
It is not unusual for Foxconn and other Apple suppliers to start offering incentives like cash bonuses and high wages to prospective workers when demand for iPhone production goes up. Recently, however, manufacturers have started raising their start bonuses in an effort to entice the shrinking pool of young individuals willing to do manufacturing jobs. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic also adds to the recruitment issues most manufacturers are facing.
According to the South China Morning Post, a local Omnicron outbreak in Zhengzhou is adding to difficulties in production because of how it is disrupting travel in the region. Thus, local companies have started offering signing bonuses in addition to a monthly salary equivalent to $1,081. The signing bonus is approximately the same amount as a month and a half’s salary on the production line. The company also promised a $1,338 reward for new recruits hired through its internal referral program, as well as $157 awarded to the corresponding referrer. 
Foxconn and other companies usually offer bonuses and higher wages when the new iPhone goes into mass production ahead of its September launch. In August 2021, Foxconn raised its bonuses to a record high of $1,578 if employees stay for 90 days. The offer came just two weeks after the company increased the bonus on July 23. Now, however, the company is offering incentives to find workers ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
The holiday runs from January 31 to February 6, and it is common for workers to travel across China to spend time with their families. Foxconn’s main concern is that workers may not return to its plant due to travel restrictions since there has been a recent surge in Omicron and Delta coronavirus cases in the Henan province.
Read more:
- Apple shifted orders from Foxconn to Chinese-firm Luxshare to uphold $275B China deal
- Foxconn workers in India reveal factory’s unsanitary conditions including unsuitable bathroom facilities and food crawling with worms
- Apple supplier Luxshare building new iPhone factory to challenge rivals Foxconn and Pegatron
