Apple Contract Manufacturer Foxconn in Problem due to its Hiring Methods, Labor Department Investigating Matter

Foxconn, a major contract manufacturer of American devices maker Apple, has been accused of not giving jobs to married women in the country. The Labor Department has started an investigation into this. Officials have visited Foxconn’s factory near Chennai in Tamil Nadu and inquired about the company’s hiring practices.

In a report by Reuters it was stated that Foxconn Foxconn’s factory is denying jobs to married women. A Narasaiah, the regional labour commissioner, said a labour department team had spoken to the company’s directors and executives of the human resources division. Foxconn did not respond to a request for comment. Apple also did not respond to questions sent by Reuters. Last week, the central government had sought a detailed report from state officials on the matter.

Regarding this, Narasaiah said, “We are collecting information and the company has been instructed to submit documents. The company has said that they are not discriminating.” Foxconn has told the officials that there are 41,281 workers in its factory. Of these workers, 33,360 are women. About eight percent of the company’s female workers are married. Discrimination in employment on the basis of gender is illegal in the country.

A Reuters investigation revealed that Foxconn has refused to give jobs to married women in its factory. Regarding this, a former HR executive of Foxconn, S Paul, told Reuters that Foxconn generally does not employ married women due to cultural issues and social pressure. The company believes that there are many problems after marriage. Apple And Foxconn admitted two years ago that there were flaws in its hiring practices and has worked to fix them. Last year, Foxconn received approval to invest $1 billion in a factory in the country. This will allow it to create a major manufacturing hub for Apple products outside of China.

(This news has not been edited by the NDTV team. It has been published directly from the Syndicate feed.)