Electronics manufacturing firm Foxconn has allegedly replaced some 60,000 factory workers in China with robots.

In an interview with the BBC News, Foxconn admitted that it was beginning to automate a number of its manufacturing tasks related to operations. However, it did not say whether this will continually cut down jobs in the long run.

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Foxconn, which supplies and assembles Apple and Samsung products, said introducing such robots will free employees from doing repetitive tasks to focusing on higher cognitive jobs in manufacturing such as research and development, quality control and process control.

"We will continue to harness automation and manpower in our manufacturing operations, and we expect to maintain our significant workforce in China," the company said.

The move is part of the extensive reduction of employees across the Kunshan region, in Jiangsu province. For instance, a government official told the South China Morning Post that one factory has "reduced employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000 thanks to the introduction of robots."

Over 600 companies are allegedly looking at the possibility of slashing off headcounts with robots to accelerate growth, save money and gain more profits. As part of the initiative, Foxconn and other Taiwanese companies have splurged four billion yuan ($610 million) on artificial intelligence.

With the country heavily investing into such technology, Xu Yulian, Kunshan region's head of publicity, believes "more companies are likely to follow suit."

Meanwhile, experts have warned about the impact that these changes will make on the job industry. A consultant from Deloitte in partnership with Oxford University suggested that about 35 percent of jobs are highly at risk over the next two decades.

TagsFoxconn, Robots, apple, Samsung, Workforce