Taiwanese tech giant and Apple’s main supplier Foxconn said on Monday it had started hiring new workers and was moving towards “restoring normal production capacity” following violent clashes in its central China factory last month.
“In addition to reallocating production capacity to different factories, we have also started recruiting new employees, and we are gradually heading towards the restoration of normal production capacity,” assured the group, a leading electronics manufacturer under contract in the world.
Foxconn acknowledged that its November revenue was down 11.4% from the equivalent month of 2021 and 29% from October.
The group assured working with the authorities to ensure safe production and “make every effort to protect” the rights and interests of employees.
“At present, the overall epidemic situation is under control, with November being the most affected period,” he added, referring to Covid-19.
Its outlook for the last three months of the year should be “roughly in line with the market consensus”, assured the group, which did not, however, give figures.
Foxconn announced in November lowering its forecasts for the last quarter. Some analysts have predicted that sales might fall by up to 20%.
The group had confirmed on November 23 “violence” in its factory in Zhengzhou, in central China, the largest iPhone factory in the world. Employees complained regarding problems with wages and their working conditions.
Foxconn, most of whose factories are in China, had attributed these difficulties to “an input error in the computer system”.
A few days later, a wave of historic demonstrations took place in a dozen cities in China to challenge Beijing’s “zero Covid” policy and demand more freedom.
Health rules have since relaxed in more and more Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.