By Munsif Vengattil, Praveen Paramasivam and Aditya Kalra SRIPERUMBUDUR, India (Reuters) - Apple supplier Foxconn has ordered the hiring agents that help recruit iPhone assembly workers in India to remove age,

Apple iPhone maker Foxconn reportedly ordered its Indian hiring vendors to remove certain job criteria such as age, gender, and marital status from the advertisement. The company did not comment on whether or not it had ended restrictions on employment norms.

Foxconn, which employs thousands of women at the iPhone factory at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, has outsourced recruitment of assembly-line workers to third-party vendors.

Apple supplier Foxconn has directed recruitment agencies in India to remove age, gender, and marital status criteria, as well as references to the company's name, from job advertisements for iPhone assembly roles,