Foxconn avoids hiring married women for assembly jobs in TN plant
This discrimination by Foxconn was confirmed by many former and current employees from a dozen hiring agencies in India, many speaking on the condition of anonymity
In clear violation of its own rules, Foxconn, a major producer of Apple devices, has been excluding married women from some jobs at its flagship smartphone plant in Tamil Nadu.
According to a Reuters investigation, this contradicts the codes of conduct for both Foxconn and Apple which prohibit discrimination based on marital status.
The wire service report said that Foxconn does not recruit married women for assembly jobs pointing out they have greater family responsibilities compared to unmarried women.
The discrimination was reported from the smartphone manufacturer’s main iPhone assembly plant in Sriperumbudur near Chennai.
Foxconn's justification
The world’s largest contract electronics maker justified this by claiming that married women have “more issues post-marriage", Reuters reported.
The agency said this was confirmed by many former and current employees from over a dozen Foxconn hiring agencies across India, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Agents and Foxconn HR sources cited family duties, pregnancy and higher absenteeism as reasons for not hiring married women at the plant.
Many even noted that the jewellery worn by married Hindu women could interfere with production, the report said.
But three former Foxconn HR executives told Reuters that the Taiwan-headquartered manufacturer was relaxing its policy of not hiring married women during high-production periods when it faces labour shortages.
Fobbing off married women
In some cases, hiring agencies even assist female candidates in concealing their marital status to secure jobs, Reuters found.
During the usual hiring season, if a married woman manages to secure an interview, Foxconn officials claim there has been a misunderstanding or that recruitment was currently on hold.
S Paul, a former human resources executive at Foxconn India, said the company’s executives verbally communicated the hiring rules to its Indian hiring agencies.
Paul added that the company’s view was that there were “many issues post-marriage", including that women have babies after marriage.
Apple and Foxconn acknowledged to Reuters shortcomings in their hiring practices in 2022 and said they had taken steps to rectify the situation.
But Reuters noted that the discriminatory practices it documented at the Sriperumbudur plant occurred in 2023 and 2024.