Apple supplier Foxconn quadruples bonuses to staff hit by China COVID-19 lockdown

Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, is Apple's biggest iPhone maker, producing 70% of iPhone shipments globally

Apple supplier Foxconn said on Tuesday it has quadrupled bonuses on offer for workers at its Zhengzhou plant in central China as it works to quell employee discontent at the major iPhone manufacturing site over COVID curbs.

Daily bonuses for employees, who are part of a Foxconn unit responsible for making electronics including smartphones at the site, have been raised to 400 yuan ($54.72) a day for November from previously announced bonuses of 100 yuan, according to the official WeChat account of Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant.

Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, is Apple's biggest iPhone maker, producing 70% of iPhone shipments globally. It makes most of the phones at the Zhengzhou plant where it employs about 200,000 people, though it has other smaller production sites in India and south China.

The Zhengzhou plant has been rocked by discontent over stringent measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, with several workers fleeing the site over the weekend after complaining about their treatment and provisions via social media.

Reuters reported on Monday, citing a source, that the production of iPhones in November could slump by as much as 30% at the plant due to the situation and that Foxconn was working to boost production at another factory in Shenzhen to make up for the shortfall.

Foxconn's shares were down 1% on Tuesday, lagging a 0.4% rise in the broader index.

The original bonus scheme was initially outlined in an article on Monday by the government-backed Henan Daily newspaper citing a senior unnamed Foxconn executive.