World of HR: Chinese company backtracks after mandating employees marry

Love is Blind asks a simple question: Is love truly blind?

But imagine if it asked: Would you marry some rando just to keep your job?

Where in the world? That’s essentially what Shuntian Chemical Group, a company based in eastern China, asked its employees recently. The company recently garnered attention for telling its single workers ages 28–58 that they had until Sept. 30 to start a family, NBC News reported. Employees were also told their relationship status would be evaluated by the company.

“If you cannot get married and establish a family by the third quarter, the company will terminate your labor contract. Please take note,” the memo said.

It also admonished single workers for contributing to the country’s falling birth rate, which declined 20% in 2024. “Letting yourself be single is not benevolent. Failing your colleagues’ expectations is unjust,” it read.

The directive apparently violated China’s labor laws, which prohibit employers from asking potential employees about their family plans. Fittingly, Shuntian Chemical Group withdrew the directive on Valentine’s Day, just one day after local officials visited the company.

Satellite view. While we can’t imagine other employers doing something this off the wall, companies and countries in East Asia are providing more incentives—from on-site daycare to four-day workweeks—to encourage people to have children amid falling birth rates, HR Brew previously reported.

Some local Chinese governments offer subsidies to would-be parents, while employers in Japan and South Korea are expanding parental leave options. One company in South Korea began offering employees the equivalent of $75,000 for each child they have while they’re with the company; it’s retroactive to 2021.

Who knows? Maybe a new reality show based on this premise will come to our screens this fall.