Apple supplier Foxconn has directed its recruitment agents in India to stop using age, gender and marital status criteria in job advertisements for iPhone assembly workers. This information has been received from a Reuters report.
The company has taken this decision after an investigation by Reuters. In this investigation, it was found that Foxconn's Indian recruiters did not hire married women for jobs in their man factory in Sriperumbudur near Chennai.
Foxconn depends on third-party hiring agencies for recruitment
Foxconn relies on third-party hiring agencies to recruit assembly-line workers. These agencies do scouting and screening of candidates before the final interview and hiring at Foxconn.
Recruitment agencies had said in the advertisement – Only unmarried women should apply.
Earlier, in many job advertisements of these recruitment agencies it was said that only unmarried women could apply. This is a violation of anti-discrimination policies supported by both Foxconn and Apple companies.
Recruitment agents removed restrictions on age, gender and marital status from job ads.
After the discrimination came to light in June, Foxconn instructed its recruitment agents to tailor job ads to company-approved templates. Restrictions on age, gender and marital status were removed in these templates.
Apart from this, the name of Foxconn was also removed from the job posting. Foxconn also warned recruitment agents not to talk to the media and threatened to cancel the contract for non-compliance.
The company is now offering job benefits like air-conditioned workplace and free transport.
According to Reuters, several updated advertisements now list job benefits such as air-conditioned workplaces, free transport and hostel facilities without mentioning discriminatory criteria. An advertisement by a recruitment agency has offered a monthly salary of ₹14,974 (about $177) for smartphone assembly roles, although no personal qualifications have been sought.
During an October visit to Sriperumbudur, Reuters claimed to have found nine such advertisements on WhatsApp, posted in local areas. Although the ad did not directly name Foxconn, recruitment agents confirmed that the jobs were for one of the company's assembly plants.
No statement has yet come from Foxconn and Apple on the matter.
However, no statement has yet come from Foxconn and Apple on this matter. Both companies had earlier said that Foxconn employs married women in India.
Foxconn has strictly adhered to the Revised Recruitment Practices. “Foxconn advertises to us for recruitment,” a manager at Prudal, one of Foxconn's recruitment agencies, told Reuters. “We only use those.”
Graphics Source: VaskarAssets
