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Express Tribune
04-03-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
'Get married or get fired': Chinese company's new policy sparks fury
Listen to article A Chinese company, Shuntian Chemical Group, faced backlash and official scrutiny after issuing a controversial notice that required unmarried employees to marry by September 2025 or risk termination. The company, based in Shandong province, stated in the notice that values such as "diligence, kindness, loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness" should guide employees' personal lives, with marriage and children seen as essential to embodying these values. The notice instructed all single or divorced employees aged 28-58 to get married by September 30, 2025. Employees failing to meet this deadline would face consequences, including being required to write self-criticism letters by March and possibly being fired after a review in June. The policy was designed to encourage older unmarried employees to marry, according to company representatives. The local human resources and social security bureau intervened, pointing out that the company's notice violated labor laws. Following the intervention, the company withdrew the directive. China's declining birthrate, worsened by the one-child policy that ended in 2016, has led to a population decline, with deaths exceeding births for three consecutive years. Despite government efforts to encourage marriage and childbearing, the number of registered marriages continues to drop, reaching just over 6.1 million in 2025, down from 7.68 million in 2021.
The Independent
04-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Outrage after company issues seven-month marriage deadline to employees
A Chinese company was pulled up by officials after backlash to a notice that required unmarried employees to be married by the end of September or face potential termination. The Shuntian Chemical Group, located in east China's Shandong province, issued a notice last week that stated that the company believed in the values of 'diligence, kindness, loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness', according to The Global Times. Further, it said that employees should live by these values in their own lives, and that marriage and children were the road to doing so. 'Not responding to the government's call to improve the marriage rate is disloyal. Not listening to your parents is not filial. Letting yourself be single is not benevolent. Failing your colleagues' expectations is unjust,' the notice read, according to a translation by the South China Morning Post. To do so, the notice instructed all single and divorced employees aged 28-58 to 'get married and settle down' by 30 September 2025. Those who were unable to do so by the end of March would be required to write a self-criticism letter. By the end of June, the company would conduct an evaluation of the still-unmarried employees, and those still single at the end of September would be fired. Local media reported that the press were told it was an internal decision taken by senior management. However, a company spokesperson clarified later that the policy was intended to urge older unmarried employees to get married, according to The Global Times. The local human resources and social security bureau reportedly met with company officials on 13 February, pointing out that its notice was a violation of certain provisions of the country's labour laws. The company withdrew its notice the following day. China's birthrate has been steadily declining since the late 1980s after it introduced a strict one child policy to control the rapidly growing population. Total population fell for the third consecutive year in 2024. It was still the world's most populous country until India took the lead in April 2023. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said China's population declined by 1.39 million in 2024, reaching 1.408 billion, as deaths continued to surpass births. The country officially ended its 'one-child policy' in 2016, but it resulted in a skewed population due to a cultural preference for male children. Despite government initiatives to encourage young couples to marry and have children, the number of registered marriages plummeted to just over 6.1 million in 2025, a significant drop from 7.68 million in 2021. The high cost of childcare, education, job uncertainty, and a slowing economy have discouraged many young Chinese from marrying and starting families, demographers believe. They also point to gender discrimination and traditional expectations for women to manage the household as contributing factors to the declining birthrate.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chinese company withdraws notice setting deadline for single workers to get married
A company in China has rolled back a policy threatening never-married and divorced employees with termination if they were still single by the end of September, after pushback from the public as well as government officials. The Shuntian Chemical Group, based in eastern China's Shandong province, announced the policy last month in an effort to boost the marriage rate among its employees. The company, which has more than 1,200 employees, told unmarried workers ages 28 to 58, including those who are divorced, that they were required to 'resolve your personal marriage issues' by Sept. 30. 'If not completed by the first quarter, you must write a self-reflection,' its announcement read. 'If not completed by the second quarter, the company will conduct an evaluation.' 'If you cannot get married and establish a family by the third quarter, the company will terminate your labor contract,' it continued. 'Please take note.' The notice also criticized single employees for 'not responding to the national call' to marry and have children, accusing them of being 'disloyal and disobedient to parental advice.' The announcement, which comes amid a concerted Chinese government effort to boost marriage and birth rates, was widely criticized online. 'Isn't this just another reason to fire an employee?' read one comment on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Chinese media reported that officials from the local human resources and social security bureau visited the company on Feb. 13 and pointed out that the policy violated Chinese labor law. The company withdrew it by the next day. 'This announcement has been withdrawn because some of the words used were inappropriate,' a person who answered the phone at Shuntian Chemical Group but declined to give their name told NBC News on Tuesday. The government of China, the world's second-most-populous country after India, has been trying to stoke the younger generation's interest in getting married and having children in the face of a declining and aging population. The number of new marriages in China fell by a fifth last year, the biggest drop on record, according to government data released this month, while the population fell in 2024 for the third consecutive year, to 1.408 billion. Ahead of China's annual parliamentary meeting next week, one national political adviser has suggested lowering the legal age for marriage to 18 as one way to reverse current trends, Chinese media reported Tuesday. At 22 for men and 20 for women, the legal age for marriage in China is among the highest in the world. The legal age is 18 in most developed countries including most of the United States, though most U.S. states allow younger people to get married with parental or judicial consent. The proposal met with skepticism among Chinese social media users, some of whom noted the high unemployment rate among young people. 'When you don't even have the ability to make money, do you want to have a baby for your parents to raise?' read one comment on Weibo. Another asked: 'Is this going back to ancient times?' This article was originally published on
Sky News
25-02-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Chinese company that set deadline for single workers to get married responds to criticism
A company in China that introduced a policy threatening single employees with termination if they were not married by the end of September says it has withdrawn its notice. The Shuntian Chemical Group, based in eastern China's Shandong province, told its 1,200 employees last month that any unmarried workers aged between 28 and 58, including those who are divorced, were required to "resolve your personal marriage issues" by 30 September. "If not completed by the first quarter, you must write a self-reflection," its announcement read, according to Sky News' US partner NBC News. "If not completed by the second quarter, the company will conduct an evaluation. "If you cannot get married and establish a family by the third quarter, the company will terminate your labour contract," it continued. "Please take note." The notice also criticised single employees for "not responding to the national call" to marry and have children, accusing them of being "disloyal and disobedient to parental advice." The announcement came amid the Chinese government's in order to counter the country's declining birth rate. But the chemical group's notice received backlash on social media. Chinese media reported that officials from the local human resources and social security bureau visited the company on 13 February and pointed out that the policy violated Chinese labour law. The company withdrew it by the next day. Someone from the Shuntian Chemical Group, who did not provide their name, told NBC News: "This announcement has been withdrawn because some of the words used were inappropriate." The latest government data shows the number of new marriages in China fell by a fifth last year - the biggest drop on record - while the population fell in 2024 for the third consecutive year, to 1.408 billion.
NBC News
25-02-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Chinese company withdraws notice setting deadline for single workers to get married
A company in China has rolled back a policy threatening never-married and divorced employees with termination if they were still single by the end of September, after pushback from the public as well as government officials. The Shuntian Chemical Group, based in eastern China's Shandong province, announced the policy last month in an effort to boost the marriage rate among its employees. The company, which has more than 1,200 employees, told unmarried workers ages 28 to 58, including those who are divorced, that they were required to 'resolve your personal marriage issues' by Sept. 30. 'If not completed by the first quarter, you must write a self-reflection,' its announcement read. 'If not completed by the second quarter, the company will conduct an evaluation.' 'If you cannot get married and establish a family by the third quarter, the company will terminate your labor contract,' it continued. 'Please take note.' The notice also criticized single employees for 'not responding to the national call' to marry and have children, accusing them of being 'disloyal and disobedient to parental advice.' The announcement, which comes amid a concerted Chinese government effort to boost marriage and birth rates, was widely criticized online. 'Isn't this just another reason to fire an employee?' read one comment on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Chinese media reported that officials from the local human resources and social security bureau visited the company on Feb. 13 and pointed out that the policy violated Chinese labor law. The company withdrew it by the next day. 'This announcement has been withdrawn because some of the words used were inappropriate,' a person who answered the phone at Shuntian Chemical Group but declined to give their name told NBC News on Tuesday. The government of China, the world's second-most-populous country after India, has been trying to stoke the younger generation's interest in getting married and having children in the face of a declining and aging population. The number of new marriages in China fell by a fifth last year, the biggest drop on record, according to government data released this month, while the population fell in 2024 for the third consecutive year, to 1.408 billion. Ahead of China's annual parliamentary meeting next week, one national political adviser has suggested lowering the legal age for marriage to 18 as one way to reverse current trends, Chinese media reported Tuesday. At 22 for men and 20 for women, the legal age for marriage in China is among the highest in the world. The legal age is 18 in most developed countries including most of the United States, though most U.S. states allow younger people to get married with parental or judicial consent. The proposal met with skepticism among Chinese social media users, some of whom noted the high unemployment rate among young people. 'When you don't even have the ability to make money, do you want to have a baby for your parents to raise?' read one comment on Weibo.
