Chinese Workers Of Major Apple Supplier Are Lining Up To Quit

The declining iPhone sales of Apple have had a direct influence on the Chinese factory workers who assemble the devices for Foxconn. Foxconn is a manufacturing firm which is a major supplier for Apple.

A South China Morning Post’s report on March 1 gives us an insight into the status of Foxconn’s workers at its facilities located in Henan province, central China.

According to the newsroom, because the “peak production” – an increase in iPhone production prior to Christmas – did not last as long as usual, there were few chances for workers to raise their salary with overtime pay. As a result, wage reductions have gone up to 25%.

There are other signs indicating that Foxconn has been affected by decreasing iPhone sales. The Post had several images of workers lining up for the completion of their exit paperwork. It also mentioned that people lined up every day at the facility in Zhengzhou.

A free shuttle service that transports workers to their workplace had also been shut down, which means workers have to spend 40 minutes on foot to work. They also canceled a free laundry service, so workers need to pay a quite hefty price on washing and dry cleaning.

On average, these workers earn about 2,000 to 3,000 yuan per month (around $299 to $477), not including overtime pay.

One worker said to the Post that the peak season of 2018 only lasted for 20 days, as opposed to four to five months like before. So his salary was cut down from 4,000 yuan in Oct to 3,000 in Nov.

The worker continued:

That matches a report in Nov of The Wall Street Journal, which stated that the production for Apple’s 2018 models including the iPhone XS, XR, and XS Max, had been cut. In Dec, Tim Cook, Apple CEO, warned the company’s investors of poor iPhone sales.