Apple is continuing its program of improving the skills of its workforce by opening a new Apple Education Hub in India, helping supply chain workers learn about coding and manufacturing.
Announced on Wednesday by Apple, the Apple Education Hub is the first of its kind in India and is being operated in collaboration with the Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Starting from March, the initiative will start providing educational programs through a dedicated hub in Bengaluru, aimed at workers within the supply chain.
The Education Hub will involve specialist educators working in digital education, with the initial courses covering digital literacy and Swift coding for beginners. Faculty from MAHE will be on hand to help supplier trainers, who can then teach sessions to larger employee groups.
A selection of development courses will also be made more widely available across India, with more than 25 supplier sites involved in the project for localized tuition. The wider outreach will start with assembly partner Tata Electronics, and will spread to others in the supply chain over time.
Robotics is one of many topics Apple's education offers - Image Credit:Apple
The courses that workers can take on cover a range of topics, including digital literacy, Swift coding, robotics, automation technology, and smart manufacturing. Topics that are very Apple-centric, and intended to improve the knowledge of those working within the supply chain to better the chain itself.
This latest effort is being paid for as part of Apple's global $50 million Supplier Employee Development Fund, which it first announced in March 2022.
Sarah Chandler, Apple VP of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation, refers to the effort as part of Apple's commitment to support the people within the supply chain. She says the expansion of its technical training courses in India is "giving thousands of employees the opportunity to learn valuable new skills and explore new paths for career growth."
Current education efforts in India involve more than 75 courses being taught to workers across the country. After creating jobs in India for over 350,000 employees in just five years through Apple's rapid expansion of manufacturing in the country, it's a project that will help further the prospects of thousands of people in a fast-growing workforce.
