Reuters: Foxconn to slash jobs or increase wages in the mainland

Shenzhen, January 27 (Reuters)-Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, the world's largest electronics-generation plant, told Reuters it would downsize its huge workforce as it faces declining revenue growth and rising wages in China's mainland.

The group's flagship unit, Hon Hai Precision (2317.TW), has an estimated 1.3 million employees, one of the world's largest private employers.

Woo, a special assistant and group spokesman for the Chairman, did not give a specific timeline of layoffs and cut targets, but said labor costs have increased more than one-fold since 2010. In the 2010, a series of suicides at the company were heavily contested by the media.

The current growth in the smart device market and the price of smart devices are falling. This trend is expected to continue.

"Even if science and technology are developing, prices will still fall." "We have to accept the fact that our clients have to accept that," Woo said. ”

Automation, he says, is crucial to controlling labor costs over the long term, and companies are pushing for robots to do the tasks that are currently needed manually.

But Woo also pointed out that Mr Gou, chairman of the group, had previously proposed that the goal of configuring 1 million robots was a general concept rather than a feature goal. Finish）