Apple becomes largest blue-collar job creator in India: Sources

Apple has committed to making India one of its largest manufacturing hubs outside of China. Recently, Union Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal said Apple is set to increase its production in India to 25% of its total production from the current 5%-7%.

India has also been doing its share of work to enable Apple to achieve its manufacturing goals. In January this year, the Centre reportedly approved 14 Chinese suppliers of Apple to set up shops in India.

Apple iPhone company has become the largest blue-collar job creator in India’s electronics sector. The tech giant has generated 1 Lakh new direct jobs in the last 19 months. According to a report, 62% of the new jobs have been created by Foxconn Hon Hai, Pegtron, and Wistron, the three contract manufacturers of Apple operating in India.

Incidentally, the 62,300 jobs created by Apple’s contract manufacturers exceed their job creation commitment under the PLI scheme by around 7,000 new jobs. The three companies are still expected to add a few thousand more jobs by the end of the current financial year. Apple’s suppliers in India have created an additional 40,000 jobs, including companies such as Tata Electronics, Salcomp, Avary, Foxlink, Sunwoda, and Jabil.

Tamil Nadu-based Foxconn has created the most employment opportunities, with more than 35,500 jobs created. Pegatron, also based in Tamil Nadu, created 14,000 new jobs in the past 19 months, while Karnataka-based Wistron has generated 12,800 jobs. On the supply chain side, sources said that Tata Electronics has employed a large number of employees since the PLI scheme was notified in August 2021. Further, Salcomp has created more than 11,000 jobs, along with substantial job creation by Jabil, Foxlink, and Sunwoda.

Incidentally, Salcomp is also looking to double its headcount in India to 25,000 in the next three years. While the government had estimated a target of 2 Lakh direct jobs being created in the next five years under the PLI scheme, Apple’s job creation has ensured that the industry remains on its target.

The government also estimates that for every direct electronics manufacturing job, three indirect jobs are created. This implies that, theoretically, the Cupertino-based tech major has created a total of 4 Lakh direct and indirect jobs since August 2021.

Apple’s India Push

The Cupertino-based tech giant recently said it exported iPhones worth $1 Bn from India in December 2022 alone. This accounted for 81% of total smartphone exports by value during the month, far surpassing the likes of Samsung and Xiaomi. Between April and December 2022, Apple recorded more than INR 30,000 Cr of exports, or around 40% of the total smartphone exports in value from the country.

Apple has committed to making India one of its largest manufacturing hubs outside of China. Recently, Union Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal said Apple is set to increase its production in India to 25% of its total production from the current 5%-7%. India has also been doing its share of work to enable Apple to achieve its manufacturing goals. In January this year, the Centre reportedly approved 14 Chinese suppliers of Apple to set up shops in India.

Apple primarily manufactures iPhones in India, but it has plans to manufacture iPads and AirPods in the country as well.