The Indian central government has demanded a comprehensive review from the state of Tamil Nadu, following media exposures that Foxconn, an Apple supplier, was purportedly turning down married women for iPhone assembling roles.
A probe conducted by Reuters implicated Foxconn in preventing married women from securing jobs at their primary iPhone factory in India, located near Chennai. This was allegedly due to these women having more familial responsibilities compared to their single counterparts.
The central government’s labor division stated that the law is explicit in outlining that recruitment should not distinguish between male and female workers.
Both Apple and the Tamil Nadu administration refrained from issuing comments when approached by Reuters.
Since establishing its maiden factory in Tamil Nadu in 2017, Foxconn, the dominant supplier of Apple iPhones, has been intensifying its Indian operations.
In 2023, the company extended its assembly line to the iPhone 15 in the state. Early this year, Foxconn collaborated with Google to produce Pixel smartphones in Tamil Nadu.
The recent allegations about Foxconn’s recruiting methods have raised eyebrows among rights activists, particularly given the employment potential its factories offer to a large number of individuals.
Sources from Foxconn’s HR department and hiring agencies, along with several employees, provided insights to Reuters for their exposé. They mentioned family obligations, potential pregnancy, and a higher propensity for absenteeism as justifications for not employing married women at the Chennai plant.
This isn’t the first time Foxconn’s labor practices have come under stringent scrutiny. In 2018, an American rights organization denounced the company for overexerting and undercompensating temporary workers at its Chinese factory, which manufactured goods for Amazon. In 2022, the company’s iPhone plant in China was embroiled in controversy when workers protested, stating they hadn’t received certain wages due to them.