Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer, is going to hire  100,000 workers to resume production of iPhone manufacturing for the upcoming holiday season, media reports said. The factory, considered the world’s largest iPhone producer, is based out of the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou.

The hiring move comes at a time as the 49-year-old company struggles to scale up production since the exodus of workers due to the Covid-19 lockdown. As the upcoming Christmas holidays come to the head, tech giant Apple braces for delayed shipments of iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max handsets.

The disruption in manpower has led to local authorities also taking part in the recruitment drive, scmp.com reported. In Taikang, a county in Henan province which consists of 1.5 million residents, the facility has asked for 10,000 workers. So far,  only 2,000 have been hired, leading to counties urging the grass-roots cadres and People’s Liberation Army veterans to join Foxconn.

In an internal hiring system, as many as 72,000 people have registered to work for Foxconn. Foxconn has also been raising its incentives to lure back workers, offering a 500 yuan (US$70) bonus to returning workers and quadrupling its daily attendance bonus to 400 yuan. To motivate the incoming workers, Foxconn and the local government have deployed some 2,000 personnel to conduct disinfection at 11 dorm compounds, 10 factory buildings, nine canteens and other public areas.

Foxconn chairman Liu Young-way said that the Zhengzhou facility is “making efforts to resume normal productivity as soon as possible”, communications today.co.in reported.

Foxconn, formerly known as Hon Hai Precision Industry is a major manufacturing player in Southeast Asia. As the largest iPhone assembler, Foxconn’s ability to resume normal operations will have significant implications for China’s position in the U.S based Apple’s supply chain in the future, as the two frosty nations manage their relationship on the diplomatic front.