A Chinese company that married or fired all single and divorced employees by September 2025 turned around after facing backlash.
Xingju Chemical Group, located in Shandong Province in eastern China, issued a notice last week that said the company believes in the value of “diligence, kindness, loyalty, loyalty and justice.”
The company later said employees should live with these values in their lives, and marriage and children are the path to doing so.
“Not responding to the government’s call to increase the marriage rate is unfaithful. Not listening to parents is not currency. Making yourself single is not kind. According to a translation by the Southern China Morning Post, the notice issued to employees, which is Failure is unfair.
To this end, the notice directs all single and divorced employees aged 28-58 to “marry and settle down.”
The notice added that unmarried employees were asked to “resolve your personal marriage issues” by September 30, 2025.
Those who cannot get married by the end of March 2025 are asked to write a letter of self-criticism.
By the end of June, the company will evaluate employees who are still unscheduled, while employees who are still single by the end of September will be fired.
“If it is not completed before the first quarter, you must write a self-reflection,” the notice reads. “If the second quarter is not completed, the company will conduct an assessment.”
It continues: “If you cannot get married and establish a family by the third quarter, the company will terminate your labor contract.” “Please note.”
Local media reported that the media was told it was an internal decision made by senior management.
However, a company spokesman later clarified that the policy was intended to urge older unmarried employees to get married.
The local Human Resources and Social Security Bureau reportedly met with the company’s officials on February 13, pointing out that its notice violated certain provisions of the country’s labor laws.
The company withdrew its notice the next day.
The birth rate in China has been steadily declining since the introduction of a strict child policy in the late 1980s to control the rapidly growing population. In 2024, the total population has declined for the third consecutive year.
Until India takes the lead in April 2023, it remains the most populous country in the world.
