Foxconn Removes Age and Marital Criteria from iPhone Assembly Worker Ads

In a move aimed at improving diversity in its workforce, Foxconn, a major supplier to Apple, has ordered its hiring agents in India to remove age, gender, and marital criteria from job advertisements for iPhone assembly workers.

The instructions follow a Reuters investigation published last month, which found that Foxconn had previously excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone assembly plant. The company relaxed this practice only during high-production periods.

Foxconn employs thousands of women in the iPhone factory at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. The recruitment process is outsourced to third-party vendors who scour for and screen candidates, who are then interviewed and selected by Foxconns.

The new hiring agents instructions have resulted in a significant change in job advertisements posted between January 2023 and May 2024. Former language specified that only unmarried women of a certain age were eligible for smartphone assembly roles, which contravened both Apple's and Foxconn's anti-discrimination policies.

Days after the story’s publication, Foxconn HR executives instructed many of the Indian vendors to standardize recruitment materials in accordance with templates provided by the company. They also warned them not to use Foxconns name in any ads going forward, as they did not want them to receive backlash.

The template now describes smartphone assembly positions without mentioning the employer's name, age, or gender details. Additionally new template ads have appeared, but do include some information such as job benefits, salary and even hostel facilities.

Foxconn has been positioning India as a key manufacturing base amid tensions between Beijing and Washington. Labor officials had conducted investigations into hiring practices at the Foxconn plant following the Reuters investigation, which sparked outrage in India when Foxconns policy came to light.