Apple supplier Foxconn claims to have quadrupled daily bonuses at a giant iPhone factory in China after workers escaped during a Covid lockdown.
The company says bonuses for assembly line workers at its manufacturing plant in Zhengzhou, central China, will be raised to 400 yuan ($54.90; £47.70) per day.
Last weekend, a video showed people jumping a fence outside the factory.
Chinese people and businesses continue to struggle against President Xi Jinping’s rigid zero Covid policy.
On the social media platform WeChat, Foxconn also said people who worked more than 25 days a month at the world’s largest iPhone factory would receive a maximum bonus of 5,000 yuan, up from 1,500 yuan.
He added that those who give their “full effort” in November – without taking time off – could receive a bonus of more than 15,000 yuan for the month.
The company said the bonuses were part of an effort to “gradually resume orderly production” and “thank the perseverance of our colleagues”.
The lockdown is critical for Foxconn, now making the new iPhone 14 for Apple.
Taiwanese firm Foxconn, a major supplier to US firm Apple, has hundreds of thousands of workers at its Zhengzhou complex.
It has yet to provide an official tally of the number of people infected with the coronavirus at the factory.
Last Wednesday, Foxconn said a “small number of employees” in Zhengzhou had been “affected by the pandemic” and were receiving “material supplies, psychological comfort and responsive feedback.”
“At present, epidemic prevention work in Zhengzhou is progressing steadily and the impact on the group is controllable. The operating outlook for this quarter remains unchanged,” he added.
However, footage shared on Chinese social media and by BBC China correspondent Stephen McDonnell showed workers allegedly filmed escaping the pitch to begin long marches back to their hometown to avoid to be taken on public transport.
A 22-year-old worker, surnamed Xia, told the Financial Times it was “chaos in the dormitories” where he and his colleagues were being held.
Workers also claimed the area surrounding the factory had been locked down for days, with Covid-positive workers being quarantined and tested daily to try to contain the outbreak.
On Sunday, Foxconn said it would no longer require factory workers to eat in their rooms “to improve employee convenience and life satisfaction.”
He added that he was working with the local government to provide a “point-to-point orderly return service” for workers who wanted to return home.
Zhengzhou, which is a city of about 10 million people, has been partially locked down, as authorities continue to impose the country’s strict zero-Covid policy