India: Foxconn boss rejects accusations of discrimination
In the summer, there was a report that Foxconn factories in India do not employ certain groups of people. Foxconn's management disagrees.
Foxconn company sign.
(Image: Images By Kenny/Shutterstock.com)
Young Liu, chairman of Apple's main contract manufacturer Foxconn, has rejected accusations that his company discriminates against certain people when hiring at its Indian factories. "Foxconn hires people no matter what gender they are," Liu said at the opening of a workers' hostel near Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu, where Foxconn operates the country's largest iPhone factory. Women made up a large proportion of the workforce.
"Women have babies after marriage"
The news agency Reuters had previously reported in June that Foxconn does not employ married women in the factory, or only rarely. This contradicts both Apple's and Foxconn's Code of Conduct. This is widely known. "Even the Rickshaw driver who picked us up from the bus stop told us that the Foxconn factory does not accept married women," one of those affected told Reuters.
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An investigation found that Foxconn "systematically excludes married women", the report continued. The company believes that there are "many problems after marriage", according to a former employee of the HR department. This had also been communicated to employment agencies - albeit only verbally. The aim was to avoid "cultural problems and social pressure". In addition, women "have babies after marriage".
"Problems with employment practice"
However, the ban is not absolute. When there is a high demand for production, there is sometimes a shortage of labor. In addition, employment agencies sometimes hide the fact that a woman is married or help them to do so. According to Reuters, Apple and Foxconn only acknowledged "problems with employment practices" for the year 2022. However, Reuters also documented cases in 2023 and 2024. During his visit near Chennai, Liu said that he emphasized that "married women contribute greatly to the efforts we are making here". The new dormitory complex, also known as a hostel, will house almost 19,000 people - and exclusively women.
The multi-storey complex is located close to the iPhone factory. The Indian government launched an investigation following the Reuters report. It found that although 33,360 of the 41,000 employees at the main iPhone factory were women, only 2,750 were married. Apple is currently trying to relocate parts of its production from China to India in order to reduce its dependence on the production location.
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