Foxconn ’did not hire married women’ at iPhone plant near Chennai. Reason? Babies, jewellery, other ’risk factors’

Are you a married woman? If yes, there's a probability that you may not get a job at Foxconn, a major Apple supplier. This conjecture is based on a Reuters investigation which revealed that Foxconn has systematically excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone assembly plant.

Apple and Foxconn acknowledged lapses in hiring practices in 2022 and said they had worked to address the issues. However, all the discriminatory practices documented by Reuters at the Sriperumbudur plant near Chennai took place in 2023 and 2024. The companies didn't address those instances.

Why did they exclude married women?

The decision was reportedly based on the grounds that married women have more family responsibilities than their unmarried counterparts.

S. Paul, a former human-resources executive at Foxconn India, told Reuters, "Risk factors increase when you hire married women."

Paul added that Foxconn typically doesn't hire married women because of "cultural issues" and societal pressures.

The company's view was that there were "many issues post-marriage," Paul said. Among them: Women "have babies after marriage."

Paul mentioned that he left the company in August 2023 for a better-paying role at a consulting firm.

Not just Paul, but 17 employees from over a dozen Foxconn hiring agencies in India and four current and former Foxconn human resources executives backed the claim.

Family duties, jewellery: What other sources cited as reasons

The agents and the Foxconn HR sources cited family duties, pregnancy and higher absenteeism as reasons why Foxconn did not hire married women at the plant, located at Sriperumbudur, near the city of Chennai.

Many of them also said jewelry worn by married Hindu women could interfere with production.

Ban isn't absolute

Reuters found that in some cases, hiring agencies help women candidates conceal their marital status to secure jobs.

Meanwhile, "a Taiwan-headquartered manufacturer relaxed the practice of not hiring married women during high-production periods when it sometimes faces labor shortages," three former Foxconn HR executives said.

'Foxconn employs some married women in India'

Apple denied reports of such discrimination at Foxconn factories and told Reuters it upholds the "highest supply chain standards in the industry". It further noted that Foxconn employs some married women in India.

"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."

Meanwhile, Foxconn said in a statement it "vigorously refutes allegations of employment discrimination based on marital status, gender, religion or any other form."

Further, Foxconn said that in its latest round of hiring, almost 25 percent of the women it hired were married, without specifying the number or where they were employed.

What India's PM Modi said

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Wednesday said it has asked the Tamil Nadu state to submit a "detailed report" after a Reuters story revealed that Apple supplier Foxconn rejected married women from iPhone assembly jobs in the country.

Following the Reuters investigation, the Ministry of Labour and Employment called for probe and cited the Equal Remuneration Act of 1976. The law "clearly stipulates that no discrimination (is) to be made while recruiting men and women workers."

Apple and Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the government statement.

How the investigation was conducted?

Reuters made more than 20 trips to Sriperumbudur between January 2023 and May 2024. They spoke to dozens of jobseekers about the hiring process.

Reuters reporters also reviewed a candidate information pamphlet, dozens of job ads and records of WhatsApp discussions in which four of Foxconn's third-party recruiters stated to prospective candidates that only unmarried women were eligible for assembly jobs. The ads make no mention of the hiring of men.

In its statement, Foxconn was quoted as saying, "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," without naming the agencies.

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

(With inputs from Reuters)