Report: Foxconn Restarts Hiring Spree at Zhengzhou’s “iPhone City”

24 MAY 2022 - Early hiring spree: Take two. Early this month we heard word that Foxconn was hiring a surprisingly large number of people. The hiring was happening at the company’s “iPhone City” plant in Zhengzhou. While Foxconn would be expected to hire huge ahead of the anticipated launch of iPhone 14, this felt early for that. Still, some thought that’s what the hiring was for, while others thought it was simply Apple/Foxconn trying to keep up with current demand.

We barely had time to wonder about it. The very next day, Foxconn ended the big hiring push. It actually had to, thanks to a resurgence of COIVD-19 cases in the city, and orders of lockdowns to quell the surge.

Early hiring spree: Take two. According to a piece form Apple Insider:

Foxconn's hiring of staff at its biggest iPhone factory in China is taking place early in preparation for the iPhone 14, after Apple requested for the assembly partner to onboard more workforce members two months ahead of usual.

Citing a report from UDN, the piece says:

The effort is to ensure there's sufficient manpower on hand to build [iPhone 14], and to minimize the impact of local closures and supply chain disruptions from further lockdowns.

Interestingly, UDN’s sources seem to think the early hiring means Apple’s actually ready to start producing iPhone 14 - or will be two-months ahead of usual. According to the piece:

The sources believe that, under Apple's current concerns for production capacity, the company is aiming to stock up on the iPhone 14 at least two months earlier for 2022, with more than 30 million units expected to be produced.

So, I guess we’re just gonna go ahead and start talking about iPhone 14 then.

Eh.