Foxconn Asks Recruiters to Omit 'Marital Status, Age Details' from iPhone Job Ads

Foxconn has asked its recruiters to drop the age, gender and marital status requirements while hiring workers for its assembly plant in India, Reuters reported, citing sources. The company has reportedly instructed vendors to remove its own name from advertisements related to job hiring. 

“The instructions for ads were: Don’t mention the unmarried requirement, don’t mention age, nor male or female either,” a hiring agent told Reuters. The agent also pointed out that the HR executives threatened them to not use Foxconn’s name in ads. “Warned us not to use Foxconn’s name in any ads going forward and told us our contracts would be terminated if we did,” the agent added. 

The company assigns a third-party vendor to initially screen candidates for its plant in Sriperumbudur, Chennai. The selected candidates are then interviewed and recruited finally by Foxconn. 

The discriminatory practices used while hiring employees, particularly women, by the iPhone assembler first came to light in June. A study by Reuters revealed that ads released by hiring agents between January 2023 and May 2024 laid down a criterion that only unmarried women of specified ages were eligible for smartphone assembly roles. 

A former employee of the company quoted in the study revealed that the policy to not hire married women is due to “cultural and social” pressures on women to manage domestic as well as professional responsibilities together, which affects their efficiency. The company looks at this as a “risk factor” in hiring married women, the ex-employee added. 

While the company refuted the allegations of discrimination in hiring based on marital status, gender, religion, or any other form. “In our latest round of hiring, almost 25 per cent of women are married. Married women are welcome to wear traditional metal ornaments while working in our facilities,” the company said in a statement addressed to the New Indian Express. The company also stated that it has taken action against hiring vendors. 

This move comes at a time when Apple Inc. is eyeing the Indian market and expanding its operations in India. Indians' inclinations towards iOS have also increased demand for iPhone markers’ products in the country. The sales of the company in India mounted 33 per cent to nearly $8 billion for the financial year 2024.