Apple supplier Foxconn under fire for discriminating against married women

Foxconn, a major Apple supplier, has come under scrutiny in its Sriperumbudur iPhone Assembly Plant after a report of systematic exclusion of married women from its hiring stage was publicised by Reuters, citing that this practise was perceived in ‘cultural issues’ and worry that ‘family responsibilities’ may prevent women from working as efficiently as their male counterparts.

According to a former HR executive at Foxconn India, S. Paul, the company communicates this criterion among their expectations when in conversation with hiring agencies. The company believes that married women have higher obligations to their family, and that when they have babies it can cause absenteeism, and hence tend to separate them from the hiring process. Paul also said that another reason for the exclusion is that the jewellery Hindu women wear, like metal toe rings and necklaces, can cause electrostatic discharge that could damage iPhone components, hence justifying the practise but this has not been independantly proved.

In a statement, Foxconn said it “vigorously refutes allegations of employment discrimination based on marital status, gender, religion or any other form.”

Apple and Foxconn have denied these charges, stating that their policies do not align with discriminating against marital status during hiring, but more than 17 sources have come out corroborating the story, and some current and former recruitment agencies have confirmed the existence of such a policy.

In response to Reuters, Apple and Foxconn admit that they had these lapses in hiring practices in 2022 but also claimed that they had already worked hard to solve this issue.

“When concerns about hiring practices were first raised in 2022, we immediately took action and worked with our supplier to conduct monthly audits to identify issues and ensure that our high standards are upheld,” Apple said in a statement. “All of our suppliers in India hire married women, including Foxconn.”

In its statement, Foxconn said, “We enhanced our management process for hiring agencies in India in 2022 and identified four agencies that were posting ads that did not meet our standards.” No agencies were named.

“We took corrective action with those agencies and more than 20 job ads were removed.”

However, the documented violations took place during 2023 and 2023 and went unaddressed. The lapses mentioned by the companies were also unclear regarding its relation to the hiring of married women. In November 2023, Thanga Rasu, a Go Staffing recruiter hired at Foxconn said that the ‘unmarried rule’ had been in place during this time. It had been around for a year, at least.

In conversation with Reuters, three former Foxconn HR executives have mentioned that the filtering of married women is let up during high-production periods, when it relaxes its hiring process due to labour shortages. In the latest hiring round, Foxconn has also mentioned that almost 25% of the women it hired were married. They didn’t specify where they were employed.

India is among Apple’s best bet in terms of alternatives to shift production beyond China. India will account for about 9%-14% of global iPhone production this year. Apple aims to assemble up to half of the world’s iPhones here by 2027, reducing its dependence on China, and has interest in India’s smartphone market where it currently holds less than 5% to China’s 18% share. The potential for growth, however, is immense and it makes India instrumental in its plans.

The recent allegations against Foxconn are a dark spot in the line of this ambition, especially considering that Sriperumbudur plant is the plant that produces the most iPhones made in India.