Foxconn Revamps Hiring Practices in India, Bans Discrimination Based on Gender, Age, and Marital Status.
In a significant move to address concerns over discriminatory hiring practices, Foxconn, a key supplier for tech giant Apple, has instructed its recruitment agents in India to remove all references to gender, age, and marital status from job advertisements for iPhone assembly roles.
The directive comes after a Reuters investigation earlier this year revealed that Foxconn’s recruitment partners were actively discriminating against married women by targeting only unmarried candidates within specific age groups for roles at the company’s Sriperumbudur factory in Tamil Nadu.
The move by Foxconn is seen as an effort to align its hiring practices with the global anti-discrimination standards upheld by both Apple and Foxconn. The investigation had highlighted that the company’s previous policies were inconsistent with these standards, raising concerns about compliance.
Foxconn, which employs thousands of workers, many of them women, at its Tamil Nadu plant, outsources its recruitment to third-party agencies responsible for scouting and screening candidates before the final interview process.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the company’s HR executives convened meetings with their vendors shortly after the investigation was released.
Vendors were instructed to refrain from referencing gender, age, or marital status in any job postings, and were also warned against using Foxconn’s name in their advertisements. One agent described the new guidelines as strict, with the threat of contract termination if they failed to comply.
Recruiters were also told not to engage with the media regarding Foxconn’s hiring practices, further underscoring the company’s efforts to address the allegations of discrimination.
While Foxconn’s move to revise its hiring practices is seen as a positive step, the company’s reluctance to confirm whether the changes include lifting the restrictions on hiring married women raises questions about the consistency and enforcement of ethical hiring policies across its operations in India and globally.
The tech giant’s efforts to align its recruitment strategies with international standards are a welcome development, but the true test will lie in the effective implementation and monitoring of these revised policies to ensure a fair and inclusive hiring process.
