A firm in China has recently sparked controversy by telling all of its single and divorced employees that they might risk losing their jobs if they do not get married by September.

In an email to its employees, the company publicly shamed its single employees, claiming that their reluctance to respond to the government's call to improve the nation's marriage rate is an act of unloyalty and treachery to the Chinese government.

"Not listening to your parents is not filial. Letting yourself be single is not benevolent. Failing your colleagues expectations is unjust."

Employees are given three chances before they are finally let go

The firm, located in the Chinese province of Shandong and a work force of 1,200 people, enforced this new policy on all of its employees aged between 28 and 58, requiring them to find a partner, get married and settle down by end-September the same year.

Employees will be given three chances; If they are unable to meet the criteria by end-March, they will be required to write a self-criticism letter.

If they are still unable to do so by end-Fune, they would be subject to a company "evaluation."

Finally, if they are still single by the end of September, they will be fired.

Needless to say, this policy greatly enraged netizens, who were unhappy with the company's overbearing approach to its employee's personal life. Many netizens took to the internet to call the policy crazy, urging company to mind their own business.

Others suggested fired employees could seek legal compensation, while a third questioned whether the firm would next penalize married employees for not having children.

Netizens urge companies to mind their own business

Following the public outcry, the Chinese local human resources and social security bureau quickly conducted a inspection on the company on February 13.

Within just a day, the company announced that notice had been halted and the regulation revoked, adding that it would strengthen internal management, study relevant laws and regulations, and prevent such incidents from occurring again.

During a press conference, the company spokesman also publically apologized and explained that the company original intent was to encourage "older unmarried employees to focus on important life decisions and motivate them to marry and settle down."

But in hindsight, the company realised that the approach was overly simplistic, and the company mistakenly transformed this initiative into a rigid policy.

A government official shared with a local news agency that the policy has violated the China's Labour Law and Labour Contract Law in every way possible. Yan Tian, an associate professor at Peking University Law School, called the policy unconstitutional, explaining that it goes against all the values and principles of the freedom of marriage, which dictates that a marriage system must be based on the free choice of partners, on monogamy and on equality between man and woman.

China's declining birth rate

In recent years, the Chinese government had introduced certain policies to counteract the declining marriage rates in China.

#Gravitas | Forced to choose between love and career?

A Chinese company’s ‘marry or resign’ diktat has sparked outrage, raising questions about personal freedom in the workplace. What’s next for employee rights?@MollyGambhir brings you this report pic.twitter.com/mkIcniZaXu
— WION (@WIONews) February 24, 2025
a

Just last year, the number of marriages fell to 6.1 million, a 20.5% drop from the previous year, which recorded a marriage rate of 7.68 million. Despite this, China recorded 9.54 million newborns in 2024, marking the first increase in birth rates since 2017.

But experts has attributed this rise to families preferring to have children in the Year of the Dragon.

In response to the declining marriage rates, local governments have introduced incentives. In Shanxi province, couples who marry for the first time before the age of 35 would receive a reward of 1,500 yuan.