Foxconn, the largest iPhone manufacturer, has started hiring new workers in anticipation of the trio of new Apple smartphones launching in September.
According to a new report from DigiTimes, the company is offering substantial bonuses up to $295 USD to employees who renew their contracts. The hiring of new staff at the plants in Zhengzhou, China would continue until November 2018 when production should reach the maximum output, helping the company align manufacturing with demand.
It is typical of Foxconn to ramp up hiring for workers before a few months ahead of a new iPhone launch. The company does this to increase the production capacity of its factories and meet the demand-supply imbalance that usually exists when a new iPhone is launched.
Foxconn, the sole manufacturer of Apple’s flagship iPhone X smartphone, recorded weaker than expected profits in the fourth quarter of 2017 due to high costs associated with factory retooling and equipment purchases ahead of last year’s mass-production of iPhone X.
To prevent the same from happening for this year’s iPhone refresh, the Apple supplier has applied “stricter cost management,” the report added.
Apple is expected to unveil three different iPhone models in September, one of which is likely to be more affordable and account for at least half of this year’s production.
Foxconn last month broke ground on a $10 billion USD manufacturing campus in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
