(Yicai Global) Jan. 30 -- Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn, as much as tripled the pay of workers in China who returned early to the world’s largest iPhone factory during the Spring Festival holiday, a worker at the plant told Yicai Global.

To keep up with a production schedule delayed by a Covid-19 outbreak and enhance the firm’s key role in Apple’s industrial chain, Foxconn offered a bonus of CNY13,000 (USD1,920) to staff who came back to work on Jan. 23, two days after the week-long holiday started, the person said. The average monthly salary is CNY5,000 to CNY6,000 (USD740 to USD885), the person added.

All seven of the worker’s roommates whom Yicai Global spoke with returned to the iPhone plant in Zhengzhou, Henan province on Jan. 23 to receive the triple pay.

The manager of the Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone, where the factory is located, also offered ‘red envelope’ gifts of CNY1,000 per worker to those at key firms such as Foxconn who remained on duty during the Chinese New Year break, Yicai Global learned.

A coronavirus outbreak hit Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant in late October. In November, Apple said production of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max would be less than expected because of the disruption at the plant.

Apple also entrusted other contract manufacturers to assemble some high-end mobile phones to ensure supply, Guo Mingqi, an analyst at Tianfeng International Securities, said in a research report. Apple did not confirm that, but the idea that the US tech giant may gradually reduce its reliance on Foxconn has taken root.

“Apple have entrusted our company to assemble mobile phones in past years, but its plan for this year’s iPhone 15 is uncertain,” the worker told Yicai Global, adding that the iPhone 15 has become a topic of concern among front-line staff.

Henan is keeping a close eye on Apple’s cooperation with Foxconn. Since the firm set up Zhengzhou in 2010, it has provided jobs for more than one million people and boosted the scale of the local electronics industry to CNY100 billion (USD14.8 billion), accounting for 60 percent of the province’s total trade value for years.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione