Foxconn's chairman, Young Liu, on Saturday defended the company's recruitment policies after New Delhi initiated investigations following a Reuters report alleging that the Apple supplier excludes married women from iPhone assembly roles. "Foxconn hires without regard to gender, and women constitute a significant portion of our workforce," Liu stated during the inauguration of a new hostel complex for employees near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. "I want to underscore that married women play a crucial role in our operations here," he added, marking his first public remarks since the Reuters investigation. Liu did not engage with the media at the event, which the state government described as exclusive for 18,720 female Foxconn workers. The hostel, consisting of multiple floors, is situated near the iPhone manufacturing facility.
The Reuters report, published in June, revealed that Foxconn had systematically barred married women from employment at its primary iPhone assembly plant in India, citing greater family responsibilities compared to unmarried women. Foxconn admitted to certain shortcomings in its hiring practices in 2022 and claimed to have taken steps to rectify these issues, but strongly denied allegations of discriminatory employment practices. The report sparked widespread media discussion and prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to request a detailed report from Tamil Nadu, with labor officials also visiting the iPhone factory to interrogate management. No findings have been released by New Delhi yet.
Foxconn informed labor officials that its main iPhone factory in India employs 41,281 individuals, including 33,360 women, of whom approximately 2,750, or around 8%, are married. The company did not provide a breakdown of these figures by specific roles, such as iPhone assembly, where Reuters reported discrimination was occurring. In recent years, Foxconn has expanded its operations in India, producing iPhones and other smartphone products, with plans to venture into AirPods and chip manufacturing. During his current visit, Liu has met with Prime Minister Modi and other high-ranking Indian officials to discuss Foxconn's investment strategies.
