Apple supply chain’s shift of operation to India, in line with the incentives provided by the Indian government, has reportedly created around 20,000 job opportunities so far in the country.
According to a report by Taiwan-based DigiTimes Asia, the number could be higher were it not for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Manufacturers including Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron were all committed to creating certain numbers of job opportunities when they applied to enter the subsidies program under India’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI), the report said.
The report claimed that if Foxconn and Wistron successfully meet their hiring plans pledged in their PLI application, they will each be adding 23,000 people to their Indian operations by the end of March 2022.
It also added that Pegatron plans to hire 6,000-7,000 workers in India by the end of March 2022. Pegatron India has not started operations yet as it only decided the location of it production site in India earlier this year.
The number of Apple’s suppliers operating in India increased to nine in 2020, up from six in 2018.
The growth of headcounts hired by Apple suppliers will accelerate in sync with the number of suppliers shifting their supply chains to India.
“The greatest challenge to the Apple suppliers’ efforts to create job opportunities in India would be the pandemic,” the report noted.
After the recent surge in COVID infections, many manufacturers have delayed their recruiting activities in the country, as workers have returned to their hometowns to escape COVID-19 and created a shortage of labor supply.
