Foxconn wants women workers to take up lead in design, tech space: Chairman

iPhone contract manufacturer Foxconn wants women employees in India to take up lead positions in design and other technology-related positions, a top company official has said.

Foxconn has 48,000 employees across India and 25 per cent of its new hires are married women.

"We see not only the assembly work for women but also some design, technology-related positions. Lot of our current employees are highly educated. We would like to give them more opportunity to advance their position, not just limited to assembly work," Foxconn Chairman Young Liu told PTI.

The Foxconn factory has about 70 per cent women and 30 per cent men.

The company recently inaugurated a women-only residential complex built by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) in Sriperumbudur near Chennai that can house over 18,000 women employees working with Foxconn.

Liu had then said there is an upward trend in all types of hiring by the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing major in India and the company hires regardless of gender.

The company is also setting up its second largest mobile manufacturing plant outside China in Karnataka with a planned investment of Rs 25,000 crore that will create 40,000 jobs.

Foxconn recently infused about Rs 1,200 crore unit in its Karnataka unit, taking its total investment to about Rs 13,800 crore in the Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development Pvt Ltd.

Liu last week said the company is in talks with the Tamil Nadu government to set up a battery energy storage system unit that will focus on electric vehicles.

Besides, the company has formed a joint venture to set up a semiconductor plant in India and is also in the process to start production of electric vehicles in the country.

Liu said Foxconn's information and communication technology segment has just started in India.

"We are also waiting to put our 3+3 future industry in India," he said.

As part of the "3+3 strategy", Foxconn has prioritised expanding business in three key industries -- electric vehicles, digital health, and robotics industries.