Thousands Line Up for New iPhone Production Jobs at Foxconn Facilities in China

MacRumors · Jan 31, 2012

Back in late December, reports surfaced indicating that Foxconn was planning a major expansion of its iPhone production capabilities in Zhengzhou, China, with the company reportedly investing $1.1 billion and working with the Chinese government to recruit 100,000 new workers to the facility.

M.I.C gadget now reports that the hiring notices have gone out and thousands of prospective employees have lined up to apply for the positions.

On the 30th of January, thousands of hopefuls stood for hours outside a labor agency located in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, the largest city of Henan province in north-central China. The lines stretched more than 200 meters along the road, and the people who were waiting in line with their applications just hope to get a job at Foxconn, as the electronics contracting giant ramps up its iPhone production at Zhengzhou plant.

The report cites articles from the Chinese media noting that many of the applicants have prior work experience, with some of them seeking to transfer from Foxconn's other facilities in southern China to be closer to home.

Apple is of course in the middle of booming iPhone 4S sales following the device's launch last October and is now turning its attention to the rapidly-growing Chinese market where the device launched on China Unicom earlier this month and is expected to launch on China Telecom as soon as late next month. The company is obviously also looking ahead to the next-generation iPhone hardware that most expect will debut later this year.

Foxconn and Apple have come under increasing scrutiny over the treatment of employees in Apple's supply chain, with Foxconn being the highest-profile target due to its employment of hundreds of thousands of workers focused on manufacturing Apple products. Apple CEO Tim Cook has expressed concern over some of the allegations presented in recent media reports while also pointing to the company's continuing efforts on the workers' rights front including ongoing audits and outside monitoring of workplace conditions.

Article Link: Thousands Line Up for New iPhone Production Jobs at Foxconn Facilities in China

motoleo · Jan 31, 2012

Sigh. They get all the jobs.

ScottishDuck · Jan 31, 2012

What's the purpose of this article exactly?

Oh, I know, to make it seem like it's "not that bad" at Foxconn.

Classy.

kolax · Jan 31, 2012

If there's 100,000 jobs going, then I'd imagine every single person in that line will get it.

Just amazes me how big Foxconn is. Another 100,000 employees is only an additional ~10%!

iMikeT · Jan 31, 2012

The working conditions are so bad and there are still thousands lining up for a job... and they will all be hired. It seems that "something is better than nothing" in the race to the bottom.

whooleytoo · Jan 31, 2012

ScottishDuck said:
What's the purpose of this article exactly?

Oh, I know, to make it seem like it's "not that bad" at Foxconn.

Classy.

Because it's Apple-related news? Surely that's reason enough.

I find it strange that Foxconn (& Apple) are singled-out so much. It's not as if China had a great record of employee rights before Foxconn started supplying Apple.

troop231 · Jan 31, 2012

Hopefully for getting those 6th gen iPhones ready to ramp up in a couple months.

voonyx · Jan 31, 2012

whooleytoo said:
Because it's Apple-related news? Surely that's reason enough.

I find it strange that Foxconn (& Apple) are singled-out so much. It's not as if China had a great record of employee rights before Foxconn started supplying Apple.

Why? Because everyone's a human rights activist...as they line up to get their iPhones every year...

applesith · Jan 31, 2012

I thought that was the worst place to work and employees are treated terribly. Why would anyone ever line up to apply for a job there? Based on the NY Times article, it sounded like people are forced to work there against their will.

jonnysods · Jan 31, 2012

Man, they need some of these things happening in America and Canada right now. We would love even 10,000 jobs in Ontario.

voonyx · Jan 31, 2012

GuyiOSncognito said:
It's because it's one of only a few products that supply cannot meet demand with and Apple makes LUXURY items - no matter how you spin it, we can all live without iWhatevers.

Are human lives worth you having a white iPhone 4S? You tell me, then live with your conscience.

Do you own any iWhatevers?

Bubba Satori · Jan 31, 2012

They should attach bungee cords to them instead of wasting money on suicide nets.
That way they can't make it to the roof and embarrass Apple hipsters
with their inconsiderate freefalls to the ground. Splat. :apple:

applesith · Jan 31, 2012

GuyiOSncognito said:
It's because it's one of only a few products that supply cannot meet demand with and Apple makes LUXURY items - no matter how you spin it, we can all live without iWhatevers.

Are human lives worth you having a white iPhone 4S? You tell me, then live with your conscience.

Only slightly dramatic.....

malman89 · Jan 31, 2012

whooleytoo said:
Because it's Apple-related news? Surely that's reason enough.

I find it strange that Foxconn (& Apple) are singled-out so much. It's not as if China had a great record of employee rights before Foxconn started supplying Apple.

It's hardly Apple related. It's only being posted due to the recent revelations of horrible treatment of workers at Apple suppliers.

Apple is singled out so much because it is the 2nd wealthiest company in the world. When you're that wealthy, you're going to be scrutinized and be held to a higher standard.

Colpeas · Jan 31, 2012

And then tell me about "bad working conditions"...

whooleytoo · Jan 31, 2012

voonyx said:
Why? Because everyone's a human rights activist...as they line up to get their iPhones every year...

I have no problem with people being critical of the workers' conditions in Foxconn, but I reckon it's likely no worse than any other similar company in the country.

GuyiOSncognito said:
It's because it's one of only a few products that supply cannot meet demand with and Apple makes LUXURY items - no matter how you spin it, we can all live without iWhatevers.

Are human lives worth you having a white iPhone 4S? You tell me, then live with your conscience.

Eh? What? Do you think those thousands of people would prefer to be unemployed? Who would be better off in that scenario?

xlii · Jan 31, 2012

I'm old enough to remember when our factories used to hire many workers at a time. Today it is all about making money for upper management and the stockholders. If someone is willing to live in a dormitory next to the factory, work 12 hour days, 6 times a week for slave wages with no benefits, no pollutions laws... well that's why the jobs have gone to China.

nagromme · Jan 31, 2012

voonyx said:
Do you own any iWhatevers?

Or any electronics at all? Telephones and computers (especially non-disposable ones that go in a landfill after 24 months) are indeed “luxury” items, but they’re not just from Apple. They’re from every electronics maker. Microsoft/Xbox was in a Foxconn suicide story a few weeks ago, but that’s been forgotten...

The world is a mess, China included, and these issues can’t be ignored. But they most certainly can’t be pinned on Apple: doing that gives a free pass to all the companies who, unlike Apple, are not THE best in the industry at watchdogging their Chinese partners. Apple should keep improving, and clearly intends to... but at the same time, everyone else needs to catch up to how “good” Apple is!

Either boycott ALL electronics from China and equivalent places (I strongly respect that choice) or boycott all except those from the best company in that regard: Apple.

DTphonehome · Jan 31, 2012

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

What?! Don't these unemployed, unskilled, poverty-stricken peasant workers read the New York Times?! Don't they know Foxconn is an AWFUL place to work? Hope they all left comprehensive wills and have large life-insurance policies!

(oh, and btw, /s there's one in every crowd)

thewitt · Jan 31, 2012

The saddest thing about this is the posts by people here who have NO CLUE about anything at Foxconn whatsoever, and only spew the liberal talking points.

I've been there. Seen the working conditions. Spoken with employees.

It's nothing like the bleeding heart hypocrites who send in their articles and commentary would have you believe.

Nothing.

Get over it.

China is a manufacturing giant, with conditions that are not only good for workers today, but are improving all the time.

You want to build product in the US again? You could learn something from a visit to China.

whooleytoo · Jan 31, 2012

malman89 said:
It's hardly Apple related. It's only being posted due to the recent revelations of horrible treatment of workers at Apple suppliers.

Well, it's one of Apple's largest suppliers ramping up their employee numbers; largely to meet Apple's burgeoning demand. I think that's perfectly Apple related.

Considering some of the minutiae that gets posted here ('iPhone's internal data ribbon is white, used to be black'), I'm not surprised it was posted!

voonyx · Jan 31, 2012

nagromme said:
Or any electronics at all? Telephones and computers (especially non-disposable ones that go in a landfill after 24 months) are indeed luxury items, but theyre not just from Apple. Theyre from every electronics maker. Microsoft was in a Foxconn suicide story a few weeks ago, but thats been forgotten...

The world is a mess, China in included, and these issues cant be ignored. But they most certainly cant be pinned on Apple: doing that gives a free pass to all the companies who, unlike Apple, are not THE best in the industry at watchdogging their Chinese partners. Apple should keep improving, and clearly intends to... but everyone else needs to catch up to Apple!

Either boycott ALL electronics from China and equivalent places, or boycott all except those from the best company in that regard: Apple.

Exactly. You can't act like you're sitting at home shedding tears for Foxconn workers and then fire up your iPad and iPhone and download apps. If you really care about change and if you really want the plight of these workers to improve, there's far better channels then protesting on MacRumors, especially if you OWN one of the products that you're rallying against.

dgree03 · Jan 31, 2012

That is what happens when you become the big dawg apple! You suffer more scrutiny as well as get more praise. Must take the good with the bad!

C00rDiNaT0r · Jan 31, 2012

GuyiOSncognito said:
You think the average person knows this in communist China where the government controls everything you see and hear?

People actually know about it, as long as they can afford going to internet cafe, which is relatively affordable. In light of the massive suicides last year, Chinese netizens came up with a nickname for Foxconn in Mandarin, which roughly translates to "the place you go to die" - because the two sound the same, if not very close, in Mandarin.

Who knows, Foxconn may very well be the better/best option for these job seekers..

shompa · Jan 31, 2012

Where are all Apple employes that force Chinese people into slave labour in the picture?

Thousands Line Up for New iPhone Production Jobs at Foxconn Facilities in China

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