China turns to ex-military personnel to help boost iPhone production: Report

Foxconn's plant in 10-million strong Zhengzhou employs more than two lakh workers and produces 70 per cent of iPhones globally. Due to Covid-19, the Foxconn factories in China are temporarily shut, with the Zhengzhou factory been put in a ‘Covid bubble’ since the beginning of this year.

As the output at Apple iPhone maker Foxconn's factory in China's Zhengzhou has been hit by Covid-19 outbreak, the Communist regime now wants retired military personnel to help boost production.

The People's Liberation Army's Veteran Affairs Bureau in a WeChat communication said that the veterans are always under the command of the Communist Party of China and should show up when the need arises, a BBC report stated.

The Taiwan-based iPhone maker has many factories in China. The plant in 10-million strong Zhengzhou employs more than two lakh workers and produces 70 per cent of iPhones globally. Due to Covid-19, the Foxconn factories in China are temporarily shut, with the Zhengzhou factory been put in a ‘Covid bubble’ since the beginning of this year.

Any staff testing positive is sent to the quarantine centres set up within the factory. But the move has not been able to protect the workers from the contagious infection. The actual number of infections at the Foxconn factory is not known. According to videos circulating on social media, the outbreak had triggered panic inside the factory with a large number of workers seen jumping fences outside the plant to escape.

This file photo taken on May 6, 2022 shows a man walking past the Foxconn headquarters in Tucheng district, New Taipei City. Taiwanese electronics giant and iPhone manufacturer Foxconn warned that its last quarter earnings this year would take a hit from the coronavirus lockdowns affecting its assembly lines in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou.(AFP)

Several staffers were seen walking miles along the road due to absence of public transportation. According to research group TrendForce, only two-thirds of production lines at the Zhengzhou factory were operational. China's Global Times has estimated the need for 10,000 more workers at the factory. However, Reuters quoted Chinese financial news outlet Yicai on Thursday that Foxconn had hit a hiring target of 1 lakh new workers for its plant.

According to report, Foxconn asked the local administration to send at least one person from each village to the factory to help boost the production. As of now, Foxconn and Apple have not responded to the website's request for a comment.