Apple stock falls following Foxconn hiring freeze

A hiring freeze at Foxconn, Apple’s biggest supplier, has caused the Cupertino tech giant’s stock price to drop since Wednesday, when news of the freeze broke.

According to both the Financial Times and Bloomberg, Foxconn won’t hire any more employees until the end of March. But there’s some confusion as to why that is.

Citing unnamed sources, the Financial Times report says a drop in demand for the iPhone 5 is behind the hiring freeze.

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“Foxconn’s demand for workers this year was as low as that in 2009,” a source in the report said.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s report says the Apple supplier has held off on hiring because it has been able to retain more of its employees.

“Foxconn halted recruitment until the end of March after more employees returned from the Chinese New Year break than a year earlier,” a Foxconn spokesman told Bloomberg.

Apple stock has fallen by more than 2% the last two days after closing at $459.99 on Tuesday. It was at $446.47 in early trading Thursday.

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