What you need to know
- Apple is launching a new $50M Supplier Employee Development Fund.
- It hopes to give expanded learning opportunities to employees in its supply chain.
- It will also include partnerships with rights advocates, universities, and non-profits.
Apple has today announced a new $50M Supplier Employee Development Fund that it says will expand learning opportunities and skills development in its supply chain.
The company (opens in new tab) stated:
Apple today announced a $50 million Supplier Employee Development Fund that 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. As part of the new $50 million commitment, and building on Apple's long history in the space, the company is working alongside supply chain partners to amplify worker voice. That includes supporting the worker rights programs created by the International Labour Organization (ILO) for people in the electronics sector, and the work the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is doing to expand rights training and scale its industry-leading responsible labor recruitment tools.
Apple's senior director of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation Sarah Chandler said "We put people first in everything that we do, and we're proud to announce a new commitment to accelerate our progress and provide even more opportunities for people across our supply chain. Together with rights advocates and education leaders, we are continuing to drive new innovation to support people and the planet."
Apple says that through the scheme it hopes to offer new learning opportunities to 100,000 supplier employees by 2023 in the US, China, India, and Vietnam. That includes leadership training, technical certifications, and classes on disciplines like coding and robotics as well as advanced manufacturing fundamentals and green manufacturing.
Appel's new fund also includes a new partnership with the ILO to advance labor rights in electronics supply chains.
