Robots Take Over for 60,000 Fired Foxconn Factory Workers

Apple and Samsung supplier Foxconn has let go of some 60,000 workers and replaced them with robots, according to reports.

According to a government official quoted in the South China Morning Post, one of the factories run by the contract electronics manufacturer reduced its employee count from 110,000 to 50,000.

In a statement sent to the BBC, Foxconn played down the job-loss aspect of the story by making it sound as though employees would be liberated to do less menial work, rather than be out of work, thanks to the introduction of robots:

“We are applying robotics engineering and other innovative manufacturing technologies to replace repetitive tasks previously done by employees, and through training, also enable our employees to focus on higher value-added elements in the manufacturing process, such as research and development, process control and quality control.

“We will continue to harness automation and manpower in our manufacturing operations, and we expect to maintain our significant workforce in China.”

Since September 2014, 505 factories across Dongguan, in the Guangdong province, have invested 4.2bn yuan (£430m) in robots, aiming to replace thousands of workers.

— Posted by Donald Kaufman.