Dealing with an iPhone Stuck in Lost Mode After Employee Termination

Could you insert a new activated physical SIM to get it back on the network? It seems like that might work.

Are your phones in the Device Enrollment Program (DEP)? That’s essential for maintaining proper control over the devices. Also, using business-managed Apple accounts can make things easier for you.

You're probably out of luck with this one, but try reaching out to Apple Support. They claim to have data recovery tools. I once set up an appointment at the Apple Store for a similar issue, but they couldn't help. It ended up that management decided against shipping it off to Apple for further inspection. You might want to give it a shot, though they might not have an easy solution.

I thought so too, but I believe the terminated employee has the phone, and since it’s not connected to the internet, Lost Mode won't be disabled until it gets online.

I've seen this scenario before. The problem is that once you transfer the eSIM, the old iPhone loses network access and can’t communicate with Intune to exit Lost Mode. Since the previous user signed in with their personal Apple ID, the 'Find My iPhone' feature is still active, which may also have you stuck with Activation Lock. You could try putting the eSIM back in the old phone to bring it back online or take it to a place with Wi-Fi to see if it checks in.