Foxconn will replace 60,000 workers with robots at a site in Kunshun, China, with other electronics companies in the region looking to do the same.
The South China Morning Post reports the Kunshun government’s publicity department as saying that, with the help of robots, “The Foxconn factory has reduced its employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000.”
They added that “More companies are likely to follow suit.”
When approached by the BBC for comment, Taiwan’s Foxconn – which manufactures products under contract for companies such as Apple – said it was enabling employees to focus on “higher value-add elements” of production, including “research and development, process control and quality control.”
The Kunshun county, an electronics factory hub, has about 4,800 Taiwanese companies, contributing six-tenths of its GDP, reports the SCMP. It experienced slowed economic expansion of only 3 per cent in 2014-2015 and its government is pursuing a growth strategy involving automation and start-ups.
China is the world’s leading buyer of industrial robots, according to figures released last month by the International Federation of Robotics.
According to their research, over 240,000 industrial robots were sold worldwide last year, with about 66,000 sold in China. This was an increase of 16 per cent on 2014.