Apple trains supplier workers in China to write code

NANJING - Twenty employees with Jabil Green Point's Wuxi plant, an Apple supplier in East China's Jiangsu province, graduated from a coding program Friday, part of the tech giant's move to train its supplier workers.

The 20 factory workers are from divisions such as metal, painting and CNC machine tools, and 90 percent of them had barely learned programming, according to Jabil Green Point Technology (Wuxi) Co, which participated in the training as an iPhone supplier in China.

"After participating in a four-week coding program in the Swift language, the workers can now create iPhone apps," said Jessica Shyu, deputy human resource manager with the supplier.

Ge Rui, a worker from the plastic division, developed an app for garbage sorting after the training. "I feel empowered when writing code. I hope someday it can help me make a difference in the world," he said.

Apple said they launched the project of Swift coding training among several suppliers in China in 2017, and many graduates have successfully developed apps with topics ranging from real-time machine maintenance to community building.

Isabel Ge Mahe, Apple's vice-president and managing director of Greater China, said that the company's education and skill-building programs, which include the programming project, had trained over 3.6 million supplier employees since 2008.

By taking the courses, workers can learn not only how to program, but how to troubleshoot and change their mindset at work, and eventually broaden their career path, Isabel Ge Mahe said.

About 200 Chinese primary and secondary schools are taking part in Apple's Swift coding programs, she added.