GoKawiilApple has announced an expansion of its Supplier Employee Development Fund, a $50 million educational program for workers in its supply chain, in the form of a new Apple Education Center in Vietnam.
The country is becoming an increasingly important manufacturing center as Apple diversifies beyond China, and the center operates in partnership with Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) …
Apple first launched its Supplier Employee Development Fund back in 2022 in response to concerns about the welfare of workers in the company’s supply chain. The company committed £50 million and said that it would be geared to a mix of worker education and respect for worker rights.
It will expand access to learning opportunities and skills development. The fund also includes new and expanded partnerships with leading rights advocates, universities, and nonprofits to drive Apple’s ongoing work to empower supplier employees and drive improvements in knowledge of and respect for workplace rights across industries.
The fund’s prior work in the country focused on providing training opportunities for people with disabilities, while this latest development appears to mirror an approach rolled out in India earlier this year.
Technical programs will equip students with on-demand skills such as basic knowledge of smart manufacturing, robotics and automation technology […] The center also provides comprehensive professional development courses. Students will have access to leadership soft skills programs and line-up training, giving them more capacity to advance in their current role or start a completely new career journey.
Apple says that the program has so far seen 9 million training sessions delivered worldwide, while 108,000 supply chain employees have participated in a separate Swift coding program.