Inside Foxconn in China: Distrust, Miscommunication and Lockdown

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When Chinese village officials approached Hou last month, asking him to work at the world’s biggest iPhone factory for at least twice the normal salary, he knew it was risky.

Tens of thousands of workers had fled the factory in China in previous weeks and violent protests erupted over the Covid-19 lockdown and confusion over bonus pay.

But Hou, 24, who asked to be identified only by his last name, said he had taken the job at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory. The company is Apple’s largest third-party manufacturer and makes 70% of iPhones globally.

Hou said he was promised up to 30,000 yuan ($4,200) for just under four months of work — far above the 12,000 to 16,000 yuan that Foxconn workers are typically paid for the same period.

He said, however, that he had not negotiated a 10-day quarantine period, as well as a sudden notification that employees would have to work another month before receiving bonuses.

Such grievances, Hou and two other workers said, led them to confront Foxconn management at the factory — a ‘city’ of more than 200,000 employees — which led to protests that made headlines around the world.

In addition to the challenges of keeping factory lines operating under a closed-loop system required by China’s Covid-zero policy — which leaves workers isolated from the rest of the world — the turmoil at Foxconn has also exposed communication issues and distrust among employees. of the company’s management.

“Nothing they said mattered,” Hou said from his hometown, after receiving a 10,000 yuan payment that Foxconn offered on Thursday to protesters who agreed to leave the unit.

Hou never made it to the production line.

‘MY LIFE IS WORTH MORE’

Five other workers said at the time they were scared as Foxconn began moving people with Covid-19 into a vacant housing development without disclosing the infections and told workers to eat in dormitories rather than company canteens. Afterwards, however, the company was unable to isolate the infected workers.

Foxconn did not comment on the allegations by Hou and other workers. The company only made references to statements it had previously given.

The company earlier this month apologized to workers for a “technical error” related to paying bonuses.

Foxconn did not say why it was paying people to leave the facility so soon after promising signing bonuses.

If the problems persist through December, it would cost Foxconn and Apple about 10 million iPhones to produce, the equivalent of cutting iPhone deliveries by 12% in the fourth quarter, said Christine Wang, an analyst at KGI Securities.

Foxconn managers said the company was caught in a difficult position, having to speed up deliveries ahead of Apple’s flagship holiday season, while adhering to the local government’s strict Covid guidelines.

“There was pressure from everyone, including the local government,” said a senior Foxconn official, referring to local officials who rushed to help recruit replacement workers.

One employee, Fay, said he feared catching Covid-19 and was distressed about whether he should stay another two weeks to claim a bonus for completing his three-month contract. Eventually, he said, he crawled through a hole in a green metal fence.

“In the end, I decided my life was worth more.”

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