After making progress on their Wisconsin headquarters throughout 2018, Foxconn Technology Group announced Friday they did not reach their set hiring goal of 250 full-time employees in order to receive state tax credits.
Foxconn, an international technology manufacturing company that produces Apple devices, previously committed to creating 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin. However, only 178 jobs met the requirements for the technology company to receive co-investment from the state – 82 short of the minimum amount required for the project’s first year.
In total, the company created 1,032 jobs in the state. However, 854 of those employed are part-time construction workers for Foxconn’s technology park. In addition to Foxconn missing their set hiring goal, the project is estimated to increase in cost by $150 million due to unexpected to land expansions and debt.
As a result, Foxconn stated that they will not be seeking state hiring incentives for 2018.
“We made the strategic decision to broaden the base of our investment within the State of Wisconsin, far beyond what we initially planned, to ensure the company and our workforce will be positioned for long-term success,” Foxconn stated in a press release Friday.
Despite these missteps, Foxconn is adamant their progress in Wisconsin during 2018 was still significant.
In a letter to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Dr. Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn’s CEO, summarized some key accomplishments Foxconn achieved in 2018. These include the $200 million investment into the state thus far, a $100 million research commitment to UW-Madison and the creation of veteran hiring programs and numerous job fairs across the state.
Since beginning work in Wisconsin, Foxconn opened and established satellite campuses in Racine, Green Bay and Eau Claire. They have also purchased a building in Milwaukee with the intentions of it becoming their North American headquarters.
“In 2019, we look forward to making continued progress on the construction of the Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park campus,” Woo concluded.
Foxconn expects and plans to construct facilities at their technology park in Racine county dedicated to housing display development, manufacturing and research at some point in the spring of 2019.
