Close Menu
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

What's On

Elon Musk Says Grok Is Coming to Tesla EVs

10 July 2025

Samsung to Launch Its First Tri-Fold Smartphone by the End of This Year: Report

10 July 2025

Hyundai Reveals the ‘Lightspeed’ Ioniq 6 N

10 July 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Just In
  • Elon Musk Says Grok Is Coming to Tesla EVs
  • Samsung to Launch Its First Tri-Fold Smartphone by the End of This Year: Report
  • Hyundai Reveals the ‘Lightspeed’ Ioniq 6 N
  • Oppo Reno 15 Series Launch Timeline Tipped; Base Variant Could Get a Compact Display
  • The Best Prime Day Phone Deals
  • Dell Alienware 16 Aurora Price (10 Jul 2025) Specification & Reviews । Dell Laptops
  • The 20 Best Prime Day Apple Deals on iPads, AirPods, and MacBooks
  • Nothing Phone 3 India Exclusive Drop Event Set to Take Place on July 12; First 100 Buyers Get Free Headphone 1
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest Vimeo
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release
Subscribe
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
Home » Foxconn Tells India Recruiters: Nix Marital Status in iPhone Job Ads
Phones

Foxconn Tells India Recruiters: Nix Marital Status in iPhone Job Ads

News RoomBy News Room18 November 20245 Mins Read
Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Reddit Telegram Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Apple supplier Foxconn has ordered the hiring agents that help recruit iPhone assembly workers in India to remove age, gender and marital criteria as well as the manufacturer’s name in job advertisements, according to three people familiar with the matter and almost a dozen ads reviewed by Reuters.

The moves follow a Reuters investigation published June 25, which found that Foxconn excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone assembly plant, though it relaxed the practice during high-production periods.

Foxconn, which employs thousands of women at the iPhone factory at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, outsources recruitment of assembly-line workers to third-party vendors. These agents scout for and screen candidates, who ultimately are interviewed and selected by Foxconn.

For the June story, Reuters reviewed job ads posted by Foxconn’s Indian hiring vendors between January 2023 and May 2024 which stated that only unmarried women of specified ages were eligible for smartphone assembly roles, contravening Apple and Foxconn anti-discrimination policies.

Days after the story’s publication, Foxconn HR executives instructed many of the Indian vendors to standardise recruitment materials in accordance with templates provided by the company, two of the three hiring agency sources told Reuters. They also told the vendors not to speak to the media, these people said. 

At a meeting in late June, Foxconn HR executives cited media coverage of the company’s hiring practices and “warned us not to use Foxconn’s name in any ads going forward, and told us our contracts would be terminated if we did,” one agent said. 

“The instructions for ads were: Don’t mention the unmarried requirement, don’t mention age, nor male or female either,” said the person, who like the other sources spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of backlash from Foxconn.

Foxconn did not respond to Reuters questions about its directives to recruiters, nor whether it had ended restrictions on the employment of married women for iPhone assembly roles. Apple declined to comment on similar questions. Both companies have previously said that Foxconn hires married women in India.

Reuters could not independently determine whether Foxconn had begun to hire greater numbers of married women for the roles in question. But recent changes to advertising content aligned with the recruiters’ accounts.

One new Foxconn template ad reviewed by Reuters described smartphone assembly positions but made no mention of Foxconn, nor age, gender or marital criteria. It listed benefits: “Air conditioned workplace, free transport, canteen facility, free hostel” and a monthly salary of 14,974 rupees, or about $177. 

In October, Reuters visited Sriperumbudur and reviewed nine Foxconn vendor ads, some in the Tamil language, that were posted on walls and circulated on WhatsApp. The text matched the template provided to the vendors.

While the ads didn’t identify the employer, two of the three vendor sources said they were for Foxconn smartphone assembly positions.

“Foxconn gives us the ads to run for hiring. We only use those,” a manager at hiring agency Proodle told Reuters. 

Reuters visited the offices of 12 Foxconn hiring vendors, eight of which declined to discuss its practices. 

One vendor, Groveman Global, had advertised in 2023 for unmarried women aged 18 to 32 for mobile manufacturing jobs. This language was absent in three new Groveman ads that Reuters reviewed last month.

A representative at Groveman’s office declined to comment on the changes.

Apple has been positioning India as an alternative manufacturing base to China amid tensions between Beijing and Washington. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government views Foxconn’s iPhone factory and Apple’s broader supply chain in India as helping the country move up the economic value chain.

Following Reuters’ earlier story, Modi’s government ordered federal and state investigations into hiring practices at the Foxconn plant.

Labor officials visited the facility in July and interviewed company executives, but neither Modi’s government nor state officials in Tamil Nadu made the findings public. The state government rejected a Reuters request for a copy of the investigation report made under India’s Right to Information Act, citing confidentiality.

Federal and state officials did not respond to Reuters questions about the outcome of their probes of Foxconn.

Dilip Cherian, a communications consultant and co-founder of Indian public relations firm Perfect Relations, said media scrutiny of Foxconn’s employment practices had necessitated changes to job advertising because of the reputational impact on the company and its client, Apple. 

Still, it remained to be seen “whether this move represents a real change of heart or just a cosmetic and appropriately legal response to the fact that they have been called out,” added Cherian, who told Reuters he does not work with Apple or Foxconn.

During a visit to India in August, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu said married women “greatly contribute to the efforts of what we’re doing here.” 

He also met with Modi, who said on X at the time that the pair discussed the Taiwan-headquartered company’s investment plans in India.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleNow is the time to get the best noise-canceling headphones
Next Article This 50-inch 4K TV just dropped to $138 at Walmart

Related Articles

Phones

Samsung to Launch Its First Tri-Fold Smartphone by the End of This Year: Report

10 July 2025
Phones

Oppo Reno 15 Series Launch Timeline Tipped; Base Variant Could Get a Compact Display

10 July 2025
Phones

Nothing Phone 3 India Exclusive Drop Event Set to Take Place on July 12; First 100 Buyers Get Free Headphone 1

10 July 2025
Phones

Google’s Latest Pixel Drop Brings Free Google AI Pro Subscription for Pixel 9 Pro, AI Mode in Circle to Search

10 July 2025
Phones

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE Design Appears on WPC Database; May Support Qi2 Wireless Charging

10 July 2025
Phones

iPhone 17 Air Colour Options Hinted in New Leak; Could Launch in Four Shades

10 July 2025
Demo
Top Articles

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 2024101 Views

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202495 Views

Oppo Reno 14, Reno 14 Pro India Launch Timeline and Colourways Leaked

27 May 202582 Views

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Latest News
Laptops

Dell Alienware 16 Aurora Price (10 Jul 2025) Specification & Reviews । Dell Laptops

News Room10 July 2025
News

The 20 Best Prime Day Apple Deals on iPads, AirPods, and MacBooks

News Room10 July 2025
Phones

Nothing Phone 3 India Exclusive Drop Event Set to Take Place on July 12; First 100 Buyers Get Free Headphone 1

News Room10 July 2025
Most Popular

The Spectacular Burnout of a Solar Panel Salesman

13 January 2025124 Views

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 2024101 Views

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202495 Views
Our Picks

Oppo Reno 15 Series Launch Timeline Tipped; Base Variant Could Get a Compact Display

10 July 2025

The Best Prime Day Phone Deals

10 July 2025

Dell Alienware 16 Aurora Price (10 Jul 2025) Specification & Reviews । Dell Laptops

10 July 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
© 2025 Best in Technology. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.