Outsourcing gains from Apple: 5 lakh fresh jobs in 3 years: govt sources

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If the economic reforms of the nineties set in motion the first phase of telecom revolution in India, the Production-Linked Incentive scheme (PLI) is unleashing a second revolution on the manufacturing front with Apple firing all cylinders to step up outsourcing from India to an extent that will generate employment for 5 lakh in the next three years. Bureaucrats, preferring anonymity, have told the media that the iPhone maker has already generated employment for 1.5 lakh, and once its plans till 2027 is realised, it will result in a 233% rise in that number.

A majority of the jobs have been created through the vendor companies that carry on the assembly of the phones for the US-based MNC. One of the manufacturers Foxconn is Taiwanese. Of the other two, one, Wistron is owned by the Tatas while they are negotiating for the takeover of the third entity Pegatron.

“Apple is accelerating hiring in India. At a conservative estimate, it is going to employ five lakh people in the next three years through its vendors and components suppliers,” a bureaucrat told the media.

The company’s outsourcing policy has already made it the biggest generator of blue-collar employment in India. Significantly, the development comes against the backdrop of an IMF study that said generating blue-collar jobs is the only way to address the huge unemployment problem in India, and possibly the only way to absorb the big number of youths who join the country’s labour force every year.

Apple is finalising a strategy to raise its output from India five times, targeting a value of approximately $4,000 crore (about Rs 3.32 lakh crore) over the next four-five years. A study by market tracker Counterpoint Research study has said that Apple’s plan to expand outsourcing from India was adopted after its successful experience in 2023 from the country.

In the process of outsourcing in 2023, Apple exceeded shipments of 1 crore handsets for the first time in a span of 12 months and also claimed the leading spot in terms of revenue.

Trade intelligence service The Trade Vision revealed that the Cupertino-based company also registered a doubling of iPhone exports from the country from $627 crore in FY23 to $1,210 crore in FY24.

At another level Apple is also going to generate green energy for all its operations in the country and has entered into an agreement with a solar energy system provider CleanMax. The two companies would set up six rooftop solar projects in India. They are expected to generate a total of 14.4 MW. This power will be used to run Apple’s offices and stores.