More than 20,000 employees at Apple supplier Foxconn’s huge Chinese plant, mostly new hires not yet working on production lines, have left, a Foxconn source familiar with the matter reveals the news on Friday.
The departures from the world’s largest iPhone factory deal a new blow to the Taiwanese company that has been grappling with strict COVID-19 restrictions that have fuelled discontent among workers and disrupted production ahead of Christmas and January’s Lunar New Year holiday.
Concerns are mounting over Apple’s ability to deliver products for the busy holiday period as the worker unrest lingers at the Zhengzhou plant, which produces the US company’s popular iPhone 14 models.
The departures will complicate Foxconn’s target of resuming full production by the end of November, after the sometimes violent unrest, the source said.
Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, declined to comment. Apple, which said on Thursday it had staff at the factory, declined to comment on Friday.
