India’s electronics manufacturing sector is witnessing a major transformation, with women emerging as the backbone of iPhone production across the country.
Nearly 100,000 young women are currently employed in assembling iPhones for global markets, making it one of the largest private-sector hiring and skilling initiatives for women in India.
The workforce is largely made up of first-time job seekers, mostly in the 19–24 age group, reflecting a significant shift in employment patterns and opportunities for women in the manufacturing sector.
Apple’s key suppliers, including Foxconn and Tata Electronics, together operate five major iPhone factories in India. These facilities employ around 140,000 workers during peak production, with women accounting for nearly 70% of the workforce.
This rapid hiring surge has been driven by the government’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme introduced in 2020, which encouraged global companies like Apple to expand manufacturing in India.
Industry experts view this trend as a crucial counterbalance to concerns about job losses due to automation and artificial intelligence, highlighting labour-intensive sectors like electronics assembly as key job creators.
The scale of women’s participation also marks a broader social and economic shift, positioning India as a rising global manufacturing hub while simultaneously empowering a new generation of female workers.
