Apple’s Indian workforce will comprise 200,000 direct jobs to be created by the end of March, with women accounting for a dominant 70%, according to estimates and data submitted by the company and its suppliers to the government.
Officials told ET that Apple’s three contract manufacturers in India, Foxconn, Wistron (now Tata Electronics) and Pegatron have so far created 80,872 direct jobs, while broader suppliers including Tata Group, Salcomp, Motherson, Foxlink in Tamil Nadu, Sunwoda in Uttar Pradesh and ATL in Haryana and Jabil in Maharashtra have together created around 84,000 direct jobs.
Officials say the Cupertino-based smartphone maker has become India’s biggest creator of blue-collar jobs in recent years, with most employees being women and first-timers.
“Overall, Apple’s vendors and suppliers have created around 165,000 direct jobs since the start of the PLI (production-linked incentive) programme for smartphones (in 2020),” said an official with knowledge of the details.
The PLI plan objective was met in four years
In addition, Tata Group’s twin plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, is expected to hire around 50,000 employees over time. The iPhone manufacturing The unit, set up next to the group’s casing manufacturing plant, will start commercial production of iPhones this October, with manufacturing capacity to be ramped up in phases, officials said. The government estimates that for every direct job in the electronics sector, three indirect jobs are created, meaning Apple’s ecosystem could create 500,000 to 600,000 jobs by the end of March.
Apple, Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron did not respond to ET’s questions.
When the smartphone PLI scheme was announced in 2020, it had set a target of creating 200,000 direct jobs. While the scheme had envisaged job creation by 10 selected companies over a period of five years, Apple’s ecosystem has achieved the target in four years, officials said.
Replicating the Chinese model
According to an expert, Apple has replicated its Chinese model in India, in terms of building the entire ecosystem, leading to large-scale job creation. The company is believed to have created over 4 million jobs in China’s manufacturing and app development ecosystem over the past 25 years, industry experts said.
Apple is the first Indian global value chain (GVC) to rapidly shift part of its supply chain from China to the country.
Apple started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2021, the first time it had done so outside China. Since then, iPhone production in India has been steadily increasing across Apple’s three contract manufacturers, reaching Rs 1.2 trillion in FY24, of which Rs 85 trillion was exported. To be sure, the production and export figures factor in the freight on board (FOB) value at which a device leaves the factory. Retail prices are about 60% higher.
According to the recent Economic Survey, India currently contributes around 14% of the US tech giant’s total output, making it a key hub for its global exports. The share doubled from around 7% in fiscal 2023.
Banking in Tamil Nadu
According to an industry executive, of the 200,000 direct jobs, nearly 90,000 are expected to come from Foxconn and Tata’s iPhone and component factories in Tamil Nadu. The state has emerged as a champion in the electronics manufacturing sector. Recently, the state’s chief minister MK Stalin inaugurated a mega industrial housing complex built at a cost of Rs 706.5 crore. The housing complex will house around 18,720 workers, mainly women working at Foxconn’s iPhone factory.
In addition to the housing complex at Sriperumbudur, Apple suppliers are planning to build housing complexes for their staff at other locations as well through a public-private partnership model. Most of the housing units are being built by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT). The Tata Group and SPR India are also building housing units.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.