By Aditya Kalra and Praveen Paramasivam
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s opposition Congress on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to question Foxconn over its hiring practices after Reuters reported that the Apple (NASDAQ:) supplier is turning away married women from iPhone assembly jobs in the country.
The government has requested a detailed report from the state of Tamil Nadu, the site of a major iPhone factory where Reuters exposed Foxconn’s hiring practices. The story has sparked debates on TV channels, newspaper articles and calls from women’s groups, including within Modi’s party, to investigate the matter.
Congresswoman Karti P. Chidambaram wrote in a letter to Labor Secretary Mansukh Mandaviya that Foxconn receives “substantial incentives” from the federal government and that the company should be asked to explain its practices to ensure it complies with “Indian laws and values”.
“While foreign investments are crucial, they should not come at the cost of ignoring our cultural values,” Chidambaram wrote in the letter, posted on X.
Apple, Taiwan-based Foxconn and the ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the congressional letter.
The Reuters investigation found that Foxconn has systematically excluded married women from jobs at its main iPhone factory in India because they have more family responsibilities than their unmarried counterparts.
Foxconn hiring agents and HR sources cited family responsibilities, pregnancy and higher absenteeism as reasons for not hiring married women.
In response to the investigation, published on Tuesday, Apple and Foxconn acknowledged to Reuters that hiring mistakes were made in 2022 and said they had worked to address the issues. However, all the discriminatory practices documented by Reuters at the Sriperumbudur factory took place in 2023 and 2024.
Foxconn said it “strongly refutes allegations of employment discrimination based on marital status, gender, religion or any other form.”
Apple said all of its suppliers, including Foxconn, hire married women and “when concerns about hiring practices first emerged in 2022, we took immediate action and worked with our supplier to conduct monthly audits to identify issues and ensure our high standards are met.”
The Foxconn positions in India offer food and shelter and a monthly salary of about $200. In China, six online job postings reviewed by Reuters showed workers involved in iPhone assembly at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory making $400 to $800 a month can earn. The ads did not mention marital status or gender requirements.
“While they don’t discriminate in China, can they do anything in India?” Vasuki Umanath of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), another opponent of Modi, told Reuters on Thursday.
“Trade unions, women’s welfare organizations and democratic forces must raise their voices against this discrimination.”
The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation Party said this week that action must be taken against what it says are “exploitative and discriminatory (recruitment) practices”.
