CHENNAI/NEW DELHI : Former Nokia employees are now back to work with its earlier contract manufacturer, Foxconn India, which now operates from a facility in Sri City SEZ, Chittoor. According to sources, the Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer, has hired about 2,000 workers once employed at its Sriperumbudur facility, but were given voluntary retirement as the facility was shut in 2014. “The company has about 5,000-7,000 employees working in three shifts at the Sri City facility now. Some of them like line managers and others are hired from their previous facility in Chennai, as they were trained at the Nokia unit and had requisite experience,” a source told Express. When contacted, Josh Foulger, MD, Foxconn India, declined to confirm. Foulger was earlier heading Nokia’s plant in Chennai and had moved as Foxconn India head last year.
Foxconn operated three units Tamil Nadu including one in the Nokia SEZ. Manufacturing was suspended in 2014 due to lack of orders from its anchor client Nokia, which got mired into a long-drawn tax dispute with the Department of Income Taxes. However, considering the rising demand from equipment makers, Foxconn set up a new facility that makes components for 10 smartphone companies.