Ahead of the iPhone 13 production ramp-up in a few weeks from now, Foxconn and Pegatron have started offering substantial joining bonuses to hire new workers. It is typical of Apple’s key suppliers to ramp up their hiring and increase their workforce ahead of the new iPhones entering into mass production.

The Economic Daily reports that Pegatron is offering as much as a month’s salary as a recruitment bonus for new manpower. The recruitment bonus was raised from RMB 5,500 ($850) to RMB 8,500 yuan ($1,300). Pegatron is also offering an employee referral bonus of as much as RMB 1,800. To avoid any fiasco of hiring students for its workforce, Pegatron has made identification mandatory for anyone under 24.

Foxconn, Apple’s largest assembly partner, has also ramped up hiring. The company is offering a recruitment bonus of as much as RMB 6,000, which is notably higher than the bonus it was offering in May.

Going by the ramp-up in workforce hiring by Pegatron and Foxconn, the new iPhones will likely go into mass production by mid-July or late July. This will put them on track for a September launch. The iPhone 12 lineup entered mass production a bit later than usual last year due to the pandemic. This year, the situation is relatively under control, so Apple is expected to stick to its usual launch timeframe for the new iPhones.