Apple’s Indian ecosystem emerges as top job creator, employing over 150,000 directly

The expansion of Apple ecosystem in India which is aided by the Government's Production Linked Incentive scheme for Smartphones has lead to a the iphone maker emerging as a top job creator. Since the inception of the PLI scheme in August 2021 for smartphones, Apple has created over 1.5 lakh jobs in India. As per The Economic Times, this has made Apple, the Country's biggest blue collar job creator.

Employment by Apple

The Economic Times quoted government officials and experts aware of the matter and said that the majority of the newly hired Indians are first-time job seekers in the 19-24 years age group. The report also estimated that about 300,000 people have been employed both directly and indirectly.

Also Read: Apple's iPhone production in India gets a boost in 2023; Rs 1 lakh crore worth iPhones produced

As per the report, in addition to jobs created by contract manufacturers and suppliers, Apple directly employs nearly 3,000 in India, while iOS app development supports more than 1 million job.

"Overall, the Apple ecosystem is likely to have created over 4 lakh jobs (directly and indirectly) in the last 32 months," an official told The Economic Times.

PLI scheme

Under the PLI scheme, the companies are required to submit the employment creation data to the government. Amid geopolitical tensions, having also witnessed a slump in the key US and China markets, Apple has been doubling down on India which is the world's second largets smartphone market.

Apple which began iPhone production in India in 2017 has worked with suppliers to assemble the latest iPhone models through its contract manufacturers - Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron - and also produce an increasing number of components locally.

As per The Economic Times, Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron that have cleared to receive SOPs under the PLI scheme has created over 77,000 direct jobs, with Foxconn leading at 41,000, followed by Wistron (27,300) and Pegatron (9,200).

The report further quoted experts and mentioned that iPhone factories are set to hire more than 10,000 people directly in the peak June-September period, when production will swell to a full three shifts to meet global demand for the next iPhone. New models are typically launched in September.

Meanwhile, Apple has also exceeded its production targets under the PLI scheme. As per The Economic Times, FY24 production of iPhones exceeded Rs 1 lakh crore in February. These phones have a market value of Rs 1.6 lakh crore, depending on taxes and dealer margins.

Apple's ecosystem which has major suppliers like Tata is spread across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana