“As part of the initiative, the company will work with supply chain partners to amplify the voice of workers.”
“As part of the initiative, the company will work with supply chain partners to amplify the voice of workers.”
Tech giant Apple on Wednesday announced a $50 million global Supplier Employee Development Fund that aims to expand access to learning opportunities and skills development, including for supplier employees across India.
As part of this initiative, the company will work with supply chain partners to strengthen the voice of workers. This includes supporting the labor rights programs created by the International Labor Organization (ILO) for people in the electronics sector and the work of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) expanding rights training and expanding its industry-leading responsible labor recruitment tools.
“The new education initiatives will make training and courses available to supplier employees around the world, with programs initially available to individuals in the United States, China, India and Vietnam,” the company said, adding that there will be more by 2023 than 1,00,000 supplier employees to take part in new learning opportunities – from leadership training and technical certifications to courses in coding, robotics and advanced manufacturing fundamentals, including green manufacturing.
The tech giant believes tens of thousands of employees across India will be able to take part in programs including leadership training for local supervisors and automation training that will support their personal and professional development.
The fund also includes new and expanded partnerships with leading lawyers, universities and nonprofit organizations to fuel Apple’s ongoing work to empower supplier workers and drive improvements in knowledge and respect for workplace rights across industries, the company said in an explanation.
“People come first in everything we do, and we’re proud to announce a new commitment to accelerate our progress and provide even more opportunities for people throughout our supply chain,” said Sarah Chandler, Senior Director of Environment and Supply Chain at Apple Innovation.
As part of its Supplier Code of Conduct, Apple requires all suppliers to train their employees on their workplace rights. To date, more than 23 million people throughout Apple’s global supply chain have received critical labor rights training.
