Zhengzhou-based Foxconn lifted its “closed-loop” management curbs on Thursday.
The facility was hit by the Coronavirus pandemic. The move was mentioned in a statement posted on its WeChat account.
The statement said that Apple supplier Foxconn in Zhengzhou was located under a closed-loop system that separated the plant from the wider world for 56 days.
According to a source, the largest electronics maker which has been making an effort to refill depleted staff numbers at the place after thousands quit over the past month hopes the Zhengzhou plant will continue full production around late December to early January.
The Zhengzhou plant was hit by an outbreak of COVID-19 that made it necessary to impose tough restrictions such as isolating staff. This in return turned into fear and discontent among workers which made many of them quit their job or isolate themselves.
It was hit by a recent episode of workers’ unrest that witnessed clashes among the staff over bonus payment topics in November.
Reuters reported that the production in the Zhengzhou site was affected by more than 30%. The company has not disclosed the details of the effect of the disturbance on its production schemes finances which took place during a busy period for Apple ahead of Christmas and January’s Lunar New Year holidays.
Foxconn’s November revenue fell 11.4% year on year recalling production crises connected to COVID controls at the major iPhone plant.
About Foxconn
Foxconn is a Taiwanese multinational electronics manufacturer and the world’s largest technology manufacturer and service provider established in 1974.
Some famous manufactured products of the company include the BlackBerry,iPad,iPhone, iPod, Kindle, all Nintendo gaming systems since the GameCube, Nokia, Sony including the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 gaming consoles, Google Pixel, Xiaomi, and several CPU sockets, including the TR4 CPU socket on some motherboards.
Source: Tech Crunch.
Foxconn has been involved in several controversies in matters of the working conditions of the employees. Many employees have complained about the poor working conditions provided by the company. This includes long working hours, discrimination among the workers, and a lack of proper relationships around the company.
In January 2012, almost 15 workers threatened the company with mass suicide if the working conditions weren’t improved. Some workers even alleged that the company employed children.
The most heart-wrenching controversy came out on 15 December 2022, when 256 workers in the Foxconn factory were diagnosed with Acute Diarrhoeal Disease due to food poisoning after eating food at the company-provided hostel and 159 were hospitalized.
Moreover, the company recently apologized after an error made by the company that led to the recruitment of many freshers during the pandemic period.