Foxconn’s Plans Might Not Include Marcy Nano or the U.S.

The hope of bringing the Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn to the Marcy Nano facility might have already reached a setback, even before any real progress has been made by local officials.

Foxconn employs over a million employees worldwide and manufactures screens for phone companies such as Apple. It recently announced plans to open a new facility in the United States after conversations with President Trump; but, now, it looks like their plans might be to actually eliminate workers, not hire them.

The Foxconn plan to add U.S. jobs prompted Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente to reach out to the company offering the shovel ready facility at Marcy which was recently abandoned by AMS of Austria. This week, Picente reached out to federal officials asking for help in communicating with the mega manufacturer.  But now, according to the British publication ‘Mac Tech’, Foxconn might just be underway with a plan to do the opposite.

The report claims that Das Jia-peng, the manufacturers General manager, has outlined a plan to make all of Foxconn’s factories fully automated, with 30-percent becoming so by 2020.  According to Mac Format, if that plan comes to fruition, there won’t be any manufacturing jobs left to move to a U.S. facility like Marcy Nano.  Currently, Foxconn employs over a million workers who in large part, would be out of work if the GM’s plan becomes a reality.

Foxconn's General Manager Dai told the Mac tech publication that his initial plan is to get robots to perform the jobs that are 'dangerous' and those that ‘workers are unwilling to do.’ But, phase two would move to increase productivity even more, through automation.  Foxconn currently makes over 40,000 ‘Foxbots’ in its factories, and has the capability to produce 10,000 more per year with a goal of replacing human labor through robotic automation.  Mac Format claims this move in strategy for Foxconn could put current and future Apple manufacturing jobs at risk, and that could include the new jobs being targeted for the United States.

Meanwhile in an interview Thursday morning with WIBX's Keeler Show, Picente said a story in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal is indicating that Foxconn is still moving forward with a plant in the United States. Picente said it was Foxconn's CEO that was talking about seeking locations in the United States with plans to spend billions on a new plant.

According to the WSJ, Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou invited municipalities in the United States to compete for a U.S. plant that could result in thousands of jobs. He encouraged state and county officials to visit their plant in China to see how the world's largest tech manufacturing plant operates. Currently, Foxconn Technology Group is moving ahead with an $8.8 billion flat-panel screen factory in China that underscores the company's aggressive direction.  Picente said either way, he is going to go after every possible lead as aggressively as he possibly can.

Listen to the entire Picente interview here: