Chinese firm firing employees using Apple devices, promotes Huawei products

A Chinese firm has reportedly restricted its employees on Apple devices use in favor of Huawei products. What is even more surprising is – the company has strictly warned its employees that violating this rule can land them out of the job.

Restriction on Apple devices in China is no big news after the U.S. sanctions. Several Chinese companies prohibited the iPhone use. They also encouraged employees to support native products over foreign ones to contribute to the country’s economy.

However, the latest case is quite interesting. A Chinese firm named Jilin Shengxin Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., issued a notice on September 20, restricting the use of Apple devices in the premises. The notice reads (translated from Chinese):

“From now onwards, all employees of the company are not allowed to bring Apple brand devices into the company. Violators will be fired once discovered.
The company encourages all employees to have Huawei brand mobile phones and Huawei brand electronic products, and provide subsidies to employees who replace Huawei brand products on time.”

The prohibition on Apple devices will ultimately help China to reduce its dependency on foreign products. This step will further support Chinese tech vendors and help them to grow in every aspect. But often such cases lead to some major judgements.

Chinese firm firing employees using Apple devices, promotes Huawei products (Image Credits: Weibo)

Public Response:

The company’s decision spread like fire in the wild among netizens. Some have supported the notice saying that it’s a way to encourage people to use Chinese products.

Although others said the decision is quite strict and violates the personal rights of an employee. The news reached the Regulations and Policy section of Human Resources and Social Security Bureau. They responded on this matter:

“If an employee was fired for this reason, they could file a complaint with the Huawei Resources and Social Security Bureau.”

The Director of Henan Zejin Law Firm – Fu Jian also said that the workers have the right to decide what brand they want to use. Firing them just for using Apple devices is subject to infringing on others’ right to choose freely and it’s an illegal dismissal.

Huawei Central’s Take:

China is constantly making efforts to progress in the self-reliance journey. Companies like Huawei and others began using native components to build their hardware and software products. They are also giving a tough fight to their rivals like Apple in various streams in both Chinese and global markets.

However, pressuring employees to choose a particular product in the name of support often leads to exploitation of rights. And that may act as an obstacle in the road to success.

(Source)