Tata Group plans to hire tens of thousands of new people at its electronics factory in southern India that manufactures iPhone components as part of an effort to attract more business from Apple Inc.
According to persons acquainted with the situation, the company in the industrial town of Hosur in Tamil Nadu state would hire up to 45,000 women workers within the next 18 to 24 months as it establishes additional production lines. The plant, which makes iPhone housings or the casings that hold the gadget together, currently employs around 10,000 people, the majority of whom are women.
The salt-to-software conglomerate is one of the Indian firms hoping to benefit from Apple’s expansion of its supply chain beyond China. While India produces only a small percentage of iPhones and their components, the country is making headway in its quest to confront China as its neighbour battles with Covid-related lockdowns and political issues with the US.
The Hosur facility, which spans more than 500 acres, hired roughly 5,000 women in September, including those from indigenous tribal villages, according to people who declined to be identified since staffing plans aren’t public. Indian businesses are looking to hire more women in order to address the country’s gender imbalance in the workforce.
Approximately 40% more than the Indian industry average for workers who use their hands or tools for assembly, women at the Hosur facility are paid a gross salary of just over 16,000 rupees ($194) each month, according to the people. According to the sources, the workers are provided with free food and lodging on campus, and Tata also aims to provide training and education.
India’s budding electronics industry is attempting to benefit on China’s difficulties in dealing with the pandemic. Foxconn Technology Group, Apple’s primary manufacturing partner, is dealing with growing anxiety that a Covid flare-up at its main Chinese facility would disrupt production ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season.
Foxconn and other Taiwanese contract makers Wistron Corp. and Pegatron Corp. have increased iPhone output in India to diversify outside China, a move aided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s financial incentives scheme. This has contributed to an upsurge in South Asian iPhone exports.
Increasing domestic component production would also aid India’s efforts to penetrate deeper into the technology supply chain. According to Bloomberg Intelligence, other iPhone housing suppliers include Lens Technology Co., Jabil Inc., and Lingyi iTech Guangdong Co.
