Electronics Industry

Human Resource Management in Electronics Industry

Apple creates & supports half a million jobs in US: Study

Mar, 2012,the company published the results of a study it commissioned saying that it had "created or supported" 514,000 US jobs. The study is an effort to show that Apple's benefit to the US job market goes far beyond the 47,000 people it directly employs here.Apple, which has recently become the most valuable company in the world and holds nearly $100 billion in cash, has created more jobs overseas, approximately 700,000 through a network of suppliers that make iPhones, iPads and other products.

The Analysis Group, the consulting firm Apple hired, concluded that 257,000 jobs were in companies that work directly with Apple, including employees in Kentucky and New York at Corning Inc., a company that creates glass for the iPhone, and people at a Samsung plant in Texas that makes computer chips for its devices.

While several economists and employment experts agree that Apple has an economic impact that goes beyond the people it directly employs, they said it was difficult to conclude from Apple's study what the company's benefit is to the overall jobs market. "They certainly have a big economic impact, as does every other firm," Peter Cappelli, a professor of management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania said. "If you say, 'if there had been no Apple, those people would not have jobs,' that's not true."

iPad maker Foxconn lifts China workers pay again

TAIPEI: Foxconn Technology Group, the top maker of Apple Inc's iPhones and iPads whose factories are under scrutiny over labour practices. Working practices at Foxconn's huge plants in China came under intense scrutiny in 2010 after a series of suicides among young workers. Last June three workers died in an explosion at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu, western China.

In Jan 2012 New York Times published an investigation into working practices at Apple supplier's plants in China that documented poor health and safety conditions and long working hours. In response Apple said the Washington D.C.-based Fair Labor Association would monitor conditions at supplier plants.

Foxconn allegedly hid underage workers from inspectors

Apple faces increased pressure today after its manufacturing partner Foxconn was accused of using forced student labour and hiding underage workers during high-profile independent inspections last week. Foxconn also makes components for other manufacturers, but Apple is its most prominent customer.

The Register spoke to Debby Sze Wan Chan, a case worker at Hong Kong based non-profit Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM). The group has been tracking what is alleges are "involuntary labour practices" at Foxconn, which makes gear from iPads and iPhones to games consoles.

Electrical equipment industry facing skilled manpower problem

NEW DELHI: The government today said job requirement in electrical equipment industry, which is facing major problem in getting skilled and employable manpower, is expected to increase to 35 lakh by 2012.

Currently, it is estimated that the industry provides direct and indirect employment to 5 lakh and 10 lakh people respectively.

"This requirement is estimated to increase to 15 lakh direct employment and 20 lakh indirect employment by 2012," Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises said in a statement here.

It said that the electrical equipment industry is facing a major problem in getting skilled and employable manpower which is technically competent, equipped with skills and ready to be deployed.

"The industry is facing a looming skill gap, which is widening every year. Due to lack of skilled manpower, electrical equipment industry is suffering as it is affecting critical functions like R&D, consultancy, design and detailed engineering work," it added.

The technical education system in the country does not promote innovative thinking, it said adding training being provided in the ITIs is out dated and the students are not able to meet the aspirations of the industry.

"Even the qualified supervisors and engineers are not available. Those who are qualified are not well trained to meet the technical needs of the industry. Because of the above factors the labour productivity is far less than the labour productivity in China and Korea," the statement said.

It said that this is one of the important reasons for making the industry non-competitive and is also effecting the timely completion of the projects.

The ministry said that there is an urgent need for training the work force for all the segments of the industry and making changes in the curriculum of the polytechnics and engineering colleges.

lack of skilled manpower energy industry

The principal problem facing the renewable energy sector in the country is not finance or land, though these issues too exist.

The biggest worry is the lack of skilled manpower, experts say.

“Everybody seems to want white-collared jobs; there is nobody out there to work in the sun,” Mr Debashish Majumdar, Chairman and Managing Director, IREDA, said.

“Manpower is something we need to work on,” he said, adding that a change in mindset is in order.

He pointed out that several people on the fields today are working with no roadmap and no plans on their career.

“We must look at how to create the right atmosphere to do such jobs as well,” Mr Majumdar said.

Feb,2012.TAIPEI: Foxconn Technology Group, the top maker of Apple Inc's iPhones and iPads whose factories are under scrutiny over labour practices, has raised wages of its Chinese workers by 16-25 per cent from this month, the third rise since 2010.In a statement on Friday, Taiwan-based Foxconn said the pay of a junior level worker in Shenzhen, southern China, had risen to 1,800 yuan ($290) per month and could be further raised above 2,200 yuan if the worker passed a technical examination.

It said that pay three years ago was 900 yuan a month. "As a top manufacturing company in China, the basic salary of junior workers in all of Foxconn's China factories is already far higher than the minimum wage set by all local governments," the statement said.

"We will provide more training opportunities and learning time, and will continuously enhance technology, efficiency and salary, so as to set a good example for the Chinese manufacturing industry."

The announcement comes after Apple, criticised over working conditions at its sprawling chain of suppliers in China, said this week a US non-profit labor group had begun an "unprecedented" inspection of working conditions at its main contract manufacturers.

Working practices at Foxconn's huge plants in China came under intense scrutiny in 2010 after a series of suicides among young workers. Last June three workers died in an explosion at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu, western China.

Last month the New York Times published an investigation into working practices at Apple supplier's plants in China that documented poor health and safety conditions and long working hours.

In response Apple said the Washington D.C.-based Fair Labor Association would monitor conditions at supplier plants beginning Feb 14.

In an interview with Reuters on Feb 15, the FLA's president said that conditions at Apple supplier plants in China were far better than those at garment factories or other facilities elsewhere in the country.

The last time Foxconn Group raised wages was in June 2010, when the pay of its Chinese workers went up by over 30 per cent.

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Nokia Siemens to cut 2,900 jobs in Germany & 1,200 in Finland

Jan, 2012,HELSINKI: Finnish-German telecom equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) said on Tuesday a previously announced restructuring plan would entail 2,900 job cuts in Germany and 1,200 in Finland.The company said it had begun talks with local representatives aimed at reducing the number of employees in eight European countries, as part of its November 23 announcement that it was slashing 17,000 jobs.

"The discussions concern 1,200 out of 6,900 employees in Finland and 2,900 out of 9,100 in Germany," a company spokesman told AFP, confirming that employee representatives had been informed of the proposed cuts on Tuesday.

NSN worker representatives were also due to receive official information of the staff restructuring in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Britain, the spokesman added.

In November, NSN, which had 74,000 employees worldwide, announced plans to reduce its global workforce by approximately 17,000 by the end of 2013, adding that its restructuring plan was aimed at cutting annual costs by one billion euros ($1.3 billion) compared to 2011 outlays.

The 2,900 cuts in Germany equate to roughly every third Nokia Siemens' job in the country, causing uproar among unions. "We will fight with the employees against this job cull. Our target is to save as many jobs as possible with a collective labour agreement and to avoid the close-down of Munich plant," said union official Michael Leppel.