Workers at a production workshop of Foxconn's technology park in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province on July 24, 2021. The park is a major global smartphone manufacturing base. Photo: VCG

Companies in labor-intensive industries such as manufacturing and home services are ramping up efforts to secure smooth and undisrupted operation with high bonuses for workers to stay in place during the Chinese New Year.

In addition to mass recruitment with higher bonuses, policies for encouraging staffers to stay on the job during the holiday are in place at some companies, while coping with the strong demand for labor during the holiday, the Global Times learned.

At Foxconn's plants in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province, a major production line for Apple's products, a new round of recruitment has been launched with a one-time bonus of up to 9,500 yuan ($1,501) for new candidates, a recruitment manager with Foxconn's plants in Zhengzhou, told the Global Times on Monday.

But staffers may only receive the bonus in October, just to ensure they will not quit before then, the manager said.

"Staffers who can work during the Chinese New Year will also be given a good bonus as part of the encouragement plan," the manager said. He did not disclose the exact amount of money for the bonus.

The iDPBG business group, which is responsible for producing iPhones, announced recently that during the Spring Festival, left-behind employees will be given attendance incentive bonuses of up to 3,000, according to media reports.

The bonus policy for the New Year is not exclusive to Foxconn but rather an industry-wide situation.

Chinese home services platform 58 Daojia told the Global Times on Monday that from early January to mid-February, the company will provide workers with various cash incentives as well as professional training, in a bid to encourage them to provide their services during the Spring Festival.

Data from the platform showed that the number of domestic workers staying in Beijing is expected to increase by 40 percent year-on-year, and it will be up 14 percent nationwide ahead of the Chinese New Year. 

The company said that due to policies encouraging residents to stay put during the upcoming holidays, demand for domestic services on the platform continues to grow as the Chinese New Year approaches. 

For Foxconn, the bonus for workers to stay put during the Chinese New Year comes with the booming demand for the acceleration of Apple's products amid a competitive global supply chain, experts said.

The latest report from research firm Canalys shows Apple's iPhones accounted for 22 percent of global smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2021, surpassing Samsung.

Due to epidemic prevention and control measures and other reasons, companies may also be worried that if employees go home, it would be very uncertain about when they will be able to come back to work after the holidays, Ma Jihua, a senior industry analyst, told the Global Times on Monday, noting that such uncertainty could mean additional risks for production lines.