Foxconn, which makes iPhone for Apple, denies discrimination in hiring in India

American devices maker Apple’s contract manufacturer Foxconn has denied discriminating in hiring in the country. Foxconn was accused of not giving jobs to married women in its iPhone assembling factory. The central government had ordered an investigation into this matter. iPhone manufacturing in the country has increased rapidly in the last few years.

Young Liu, chairman of Foxconn, said, “The company does not discriminate on the basis of gender. We have a large number of women in our workforce. Married women contribute a lot to our work.” The company’s factory is near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. It acknowledged some hiring irregularities two years ago. Foxconn had said that it has worked to solve this problem. However, along with this, Foxconn said that it completely denies the allegation of discrimination in employment.

In a Reuters report in June, it was reported that married women were being refused jobs in Foxconn’s factory. In this regard, Regional Labor Commissioner, A Narasaiah had said that a team of the Labor Department has talked to the directors of the company and executives of the Human Resource Division. Apple and Foxconn did not respond to the questions sent by Reuters, in this case the central government had sought a detailed report from the state officials.

It is illegal to discriminate in employment on the basis of men and women in the country. A Reuters investigation revealed that Foxconn has refused to hire married women in its factories. In this regard, S Paul, a former HR executive of Foxconn, had said that Foxconn generally does not hire married women due to cultural issues and social pressure. The company believes that many problems arise after marriage. Last year, Foxconn got approval to invest one billion dollars in its factory in the country. This will allow it to move ahead with its plan to build a large manufacturing hub for Apple products outside China.