Apple supplier Foxconn apologises, offers new hires $1,400 to quit

Foxconn said on Thursday a pay-related “technical error” occurred when hiring new recruits at a Covid-hit iPhone factory in China and apologised to workers after the company was rocked by fresh labour unrest.

The group has begun offering a 10,000 yuan ($1,400) incentive to staff in China who choose to leave, an unusual decision announced after violent protests rocked the world’s largest iPhone factory.

Apple’s main global production partner said in an online notice the sum, to be paid out in two installments, will help smooth the journey home for employees. Many of the 200,000-plus workers at Foxconn’s main plant in Zhengzhou hail from elsewhere in the province or country. A company representative confirmed the initiative.