A staff checks parts of iPhone dismantled by recycling robot Daisy of Apple at a workshop in Austin, Texas, the United States, April 15, 2019. Apple said Thursday that it will quadruple the number of outlets in the United States where customers can send their iPhone to be disassembled by its recycling robot, Daisy. (Photo: Xinhua)

Taiwan-based electronic contractor Pegatron, which also assembles iPhones, apologized for a recent viral video showing the company's recruiters throwing work passes onto the ground when issuing them to new hires in China, forcing workers to bend down to pick them up.

In the statement issued by the Pegantron plant in Kunshan in East China's Jiangsu Province where the incident took place, the company apologized for "not respecting new hires", and said it was due to "limited space and inadequate management in the recruitment location."

The video has sparked outrage online. On Sino Weibo, commenters called the disdainful attitudes of the recruiters at the plant "unbearable," and called for workers to resign in protest. On Kuaishou, a popular Chinese video-sharing platform, the video has at least over 310,000 likes and 75,000 comments.

The incident has reportedly caused a wave of resignations at the plants, according to media reports and online videos showing staff walking out en masse. However, when reached by the Global Times on Monday, a recruitment officer at the Kunshan plant said she was "not aware of anyone resigning."

The Kunshan plant has been repeatedly involved in labor disputes, according to public records. On tianyancha, a company information platform, the Pegatron Kunshan plant has recorded eight different labor disputes since April this year. 

Pegatron is Apple's second biggest contract manufacturer after Foxconn. The Kunshan plant was founded in 2014, and is one of Pegatron's seven manufacturing plants around the world. It is a major manufacturer of Apple iPhones, according to media reports. 

The plant was enlarged at the end of the 2015, with new production lines shifted from Shanghai, and received further investment by Pegatron in January this year. The total output value of the plant is expected to reach 100 billion yuan ($14.64 billion) annually.