Foxconn Technology Group has announced that it plans to hire nearly 400,000 additional workers in mainland China within the next 12 months.

The Taiwan-based technology outsourcing giant said it aims to increase its employee base to 1.3 million from the current 1.2 million.

In the meantime, the company also plans to cut employee numbers at its Shenzhen plant to between 300,000 and 350,000 from the current 450,000. This plan is in line with the company's decision to improve works quality and increase production efficiency.

The company said it will shut its Shenzhen plant, where a spate of suicides among workers took place in the first half of this year, and it will build factories closer to employees' homes so that they will be able to maintain contact with their families.