So what happens if he wins an iPhone in some lottery, doesn't get a plan and just uses WiFi? Are they going to fire him for that, too?
Congratulations would be in order I guess.
They'd should only fire him, if he didn't work hard. He could always sell the iPhone or put a low-cost China Mobile "EasyOwn" pre-paid SIM in it.
It's best not to show the trappings of wealth ("
bourgeois accessories") at a job interview, unless it's for a CEO or something. Leave the Apple, Rolex, LV, Gucci, Cartier, Armani, BMW and Chunghwa cigarettes at home. So often the job market in China is extremely fierce, and they will look for any reason that you might not want to work hard.
I work in a large state middle school. A teacher here usually gets equivalent of $400 USD p/m, which is a comparatively well paid job. Someone working in an office, factory or a shop, will probably receive half that. The workers who make the iPhone, chances are they could never afford own a new one.
A few of the teachers have older iPhones they bought second-hand, along with quite a few cheapo counterfeit Android iPhones.
I get more than the local teachers, because I'm English, not Chinese.
The interviewer apparently explained the rather harsh decision as follows:
"Students who have iPhones don’t work. Everything you have was bought by your parents. You haven’t bought anything by working yourself. You are wealthy and can’t stand the stress. Working at our company is tough. It calls for someone who can take the pain and suffering."
There's 4,000 students at my school,
none of them have iPhones. It's mostly candy-bar and cheapo Chinese Android phones.