Foxconn, which has the largest iPhone assembly plant in Zhengzhou, China, has imposed stricter controls on its employees. The company closed its dine-in canteen and asked employees to take their meals in controlled dormitories within the Foxconn campus.
Foxconn Requires Workers at iPhone Assembly Plant to Eat In Dorms
The South China Morning Post reported Foxconn’s Zhengzhou campus banned all eating within the campus. The company’s almost 300,000 workers were asked to go back to their dormitories to take their meals. The new policy took effect starting at 3:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
To make it easier for workers, the iPhone manufacturer will provide three meals for free. In addition, some departments, such as the integrated Digital Product Business Group, will receive transport subsidies to get back to their dorms. This group of workers is responsible for iPhone assembly. Foxconn also offered an additional 50 yuan daily bonus to ensure that workers at the iPhone assembly plant report to work on time amid the new COVID-19 restrictions. With demand for iPhone 14 expected to rise before the holiday season, Foxconn needs to make sure that its assembly line keeps enough employees.
Semi-Lockdown is Imposed
Additionally, Foxconn directed its Zhengzhou employees to commute along certain routes within the campus. The company has closed many entrances in a de facto lockdown. Foxconn also urged its workers who currently reside outside the Zhengzhou campus to move into on-site dormitories.
Despite the tougher restrictions within the assembly plant, a Foxconn spokesman said that “production in the Zhengzhou campus remains normal, without a notable impact (from the COVID-19) situation.”
Another restriction that Foxconn has imposed on its iPhone assembly plant workers includes wearing N95 face masks at all times, except in dormitories. The plant is also conducting nucleic acid tests every day. The stricter measures come as Foxconn ramps up its iPhone 14 production. It is unfortunate, though, that China is still experiencing fresh outbreaks of COVID-19 again. In Zhengzhou alone, there were seven new confirmed cases of COVID-19.