Demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus thanks to Apple’s “unprecedented” orders that iPhone manufacturer Foxconn is scrabbling to fill orders.
According to a new report from Digitimes, the Taiwan-based company is on a major hiring spree to fill posts at its plants in Shenzhen and Zhengzhou, China. The only trouble is it’s having a bit of difficulty in doing so, since assembly line work is no longer as attractive as it was previously for Chinese workers.
As a result Foxconn is hosting big hiring events to try and get as many people in the door as possible.
Along with Apple’s demand for an increased number of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices, part of the reason for Foxconn’s worker shortage may relate to its failed attempts to move into robot-based manufacturing.
According to a recent report, Foxconn’s CEO Terry Gou is disappointed by the company’s current generation of so-called “Foxbots,” which were supposed to augment the human supply chain but fell short of expectations in both proficiency and flexibility.
Foxconn recently hired an extra 20,000 (human) workers last month at its Shanxi factory to try and meet its iPhone orders, but from the sound of things that’s still not enough.
Foxconn has previously been named in many reports about poor worker conditions, although these conditions are said to be improving.
