Corona outbreak
Starving on the assembly line: Foxconn workers allegedly trapped at the plant without adequate supplies
Working at Foxconn is not an easy task even without a corona outbreak.
© China Out / AFP
The Shenzhen factory of the Apple supplier Foxconn resembles a small town. More than 300,000 employees are said to work there. A corona outbreak is currently causing supply bottlenecks and chaotic conditions.
For years, the giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., known as Foxconn, has been the backbone of the engineering industry. At the Shenzhen location alone, more than 300,000 employees are said to assemble hundreds of thousands of iPhones every day. In the past, there have always been incidents in the workforce, who seem to be under great pressure. Now Corona seems to be making the situation worse again. Pandemic-related problems had already arisen at the Shenzhen site in March (find out more here).
Employees should be underserved
Because China’s strict zero-Covid strategy and the high workload are currently causing major problems at the group’s largest site. The “Financial Times” reports that Chinese censors are currently busy deleting videos from the heart of the company. They are said to show employees begging for food and medicine due to an internal lockdown. The newspaper also has reports from employees who lack Complain about stockpiling and confirm the critical situation.
Officials said on Tuesday that there were only “a small number” of corona cases in Shenzhen and that production was therefore “relatively stable” because the effects were “under control”. Reports that tens of thousands were infected at Foxconn were dismissed as “completely false”.
Lockdown since early October
According to internal but anonymous sources, the group has been sealing off the site since October 7, and employees only have the choice between a bedroom and an assembly line. It is said that metal barriers were erected around the plant, similar to those seen in the blockades of apartment blocks in major Chinese cities.
Foxconn said on Wednesday that “production targets for the quarter remain unchanged” and promised employees bonuses and free meals. In addition to Apple, the group’s major customers also include Acer, Dell, Amazon, Intel, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and Samsung. In total, Foxconn employs 1.3 million people.