Manufacturing mistreatment | Apple scrutinised after iPhone factory refuses to hire married women

An Apple factory that manufactures iPhones is being investigated for allegedly rejecting married women in the hiring process for assembly jobs.

A Reuters investigations alleges that Foxconn, one of the world’s largest contract manufacturers, had excluded married women from the hiring process at IPhone’s main manufacturing cite in the Tamil Nadu region near Chennai, India.

The report cited Foxconn hiring companies and HR practitioners who said that “family duties, pregnancy, and higher absenteeism are reasons why the firm did not hire married women”.

Foxconn has refused these claims and said it does not stand for discrimination in its hiring and firing processes. And it said that in a recent round of hiring, 25% of staff were married.