Discriminatory Job Advertisements for iPhone Workers Cease Following Report

Reuters uncovered discriminatory job advertisements for iPhone assembly positions in India, indicating that women who wished to apply with Foxconn needed to be unmarried and between the ages of 18 and 32.

The problematic advertisements have been retracted following the initiation of state and federal investigations into Foxconn’s recruitment practices by the Indian government; however, neither Foxconn nor Apple has provided any justification for the original stipulations …

India is crucial to Apple’s strategy to lessen its reliance on China as a manufacturing hub, quickly evolving into the company’s second-largest site for iPhone production. Foxconn is Apple’s principal manufacturing partner.

Reuters examined various ads related to Foxconn’s iPhone assembly lines and discovered that some recruitment firms were mandating that female candidates be both young and unmarried.

This contradicted the anti-discrimination policies officially stated by both Apple and Foxconn. Neither company responded to inquiries for comment.

Foxconn did not answer Reuters inquiries regarding its guidelines to recruiters or whether it has ceased the restrictions on hiring married women for iPhone assembly jobs. Apple also declined to comment on similar inquiries. Both companies had previously noted that Foxconn employs married women in India.

The report indicates that Foxconn took action by providing standard advertisement templates for recruiters to utilize.

Apple supplier Foxconn has directed hiring agents responsible for iPhone assembly worker recruitment in India to eliminate age, gender, and marital status criteria as well as the manufacturer’s name from job postings, according to three sources familiar with the situation and nearly a dozen advertisements reviewed by Reuters […]

Following the publication of the report, Foxconn HR officials instructed many Indian vendors to standardize their recruitment materials based on templates supplied by the company, as per two of the three sources from hiring agencies. They also cautioned vendors against speaking to the media, these individuals reported.

In a late June meeting, Foxconn HR executives referenced media coverage of the company’s hiring policies and “warned us not to use Foxconn’s name in any advertisements moving forward, indicating that our contracts would be terminated if we did,” said one agent.

Reuters quotes a public relations expert who questions whether the actual discriminatory hiring practices have been eliminated or if only the advertisements have been modified.

Dilip Cherian, a communications consultant and co-founder of the public relations firm Perfect Relations in India, stated that increased media attention on Foxconn’s hiring practices forced changes to job advertising due to the potential reputational damage to both the company and its client, Apple.

However, it remains uncertain “whether this action signifies a genuine change of heart or merely a superficial and legally cautious response to being publicly called out,” Cherian added.

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