Apple Releases 2022 Supply Chain Progress Report, Launches $50 Million Skills Development Fund

Apple today released its 16th annual People and Environment in Our Supply Chain report. Previously known as the Supplier Responsibility report, the document details how Apple and its suppliers are supporting people across the company's supply chain, transitioning to clean energy, and investing in innovative technologies.

apple supplier report imac assembly
Apple also announced a new $50 million Supplier Employee Development Fund that the company said will expand access to learning opportunities and skills development for people across its supply chain. Apple said the fund also includes new and expanded partnerships with rights advocates, universities, and non-profit organizations, including the International Organization for Migration and the International Labor Organization.

Apple said the new educational programming will be initially available to supplier employees in the United States, China, India, and Vietnam. By 2023, Apple said it expects more than 100,000 supplier employees to participate in new learning opportunities, ranging from leadership training and technical certifications to classes on coding, robotics, and advanced manufacturing fundamentals, including green manufacturing.

"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," said Sarah Chandler, Apple's senior director of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation. "Together with rights advocates and education leaders, we are continuing to drive new innovation to support people and the planet."

Popular Stories

Alleged iOS 19 Icons Front Page Tech

iOS 19 Leak Reveals Alleged New Design With Rounder App Icons, Floating Tab Bar, and More

Monday April 7, 2025 3:13 pm PDT by
YouTube channel Front Page Tech is back today with another video that provides a closer look at iOS 19's alleged design changes. The video contains re-created renders of iOS 19, which are allegedly based on real footage of the software update, provided by sources within Apple. Overall, iOS 19 is expected to have a more glass-like, visionOS-inspired design, with added translucency for user...
iOS 18 Siri Personal Context

Report Reveals Internal Chaos Behind Apple's Siri Failure

Thursday April 10, 2025 7:15 am PDT by
A new report from The Information today reveals much of the internal turmoil behind Apple Intelligence's revamped version of Siri. Apple apparently weighed up multiple options for the backend of Apple Intelligence. One initial idea was to build both small and large language models, dubbed "Mini Mouse" and "Mighty Mouse," to run locally on iPhones and in the cloud, respectively. Siri's...
iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

iPhone 17 Pro's New Rear Camera Bar 'Same Color As Rest of Device'

Monday April 7, 2025 2:09 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models will feature a redesigned rear camera panel that spans the width of the device, but it will be the same color as the iPhone itself, rather than being part of a two-tone design. That's according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, the reporter says the iPhone 17 Pro won't have a two-toned back, as some renders have...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

Waiting for the Perfect MacBook Pro? 2026 Might Be the Year

Thursday April 10, 2025 4:19 am PDT by
Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the MacBook Pro is now several years away, think again. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small...
iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

5 Biggest Changes Rumored for iPhone 17 Pro

Tuesday April 8, 2025 2:38 am PDT by
Later this year, Apple will introduce the iPhone 17 series, which includes the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max, two new high-end flagship devices that will be sold alongside the regular iPhone 17 and an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air. If you have been holding out for the iPhone 17 Pro or its bigger sibling, here are five of the biggest changes, informed by the latest reports and...
iPhone Assembly

Trump Believes Apple Could Manufacture iPhones in the U.S.

Tuesday April 8, 2025 12:08 pm PDT by
U.S. President Donald Trump "absolutely" believes that Apple could manufacture its iPhones and other devices in the United States, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today during a media briefing. Leavitt was asked whether Trump thought that iPhone manufacturing is the kind of technology that could move to the U.S. "Absolutely, he believes we have the labor, we have the workforce, we have ...
Apple Northbrook

Apple Store in Chicago Area Permanently Closing Later This Month

Wednesday April 9, 2025 9:56 am PDT by
Apple will be permanently closing its store at the Northbrook Court shopping mall in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook on April 26, the company has announced. Apple has added the following notice to the store's web page:Thank you Northbook. Apple Northbrook is closing on April 26 at 7pm. We're still here for you. Please visit apple.com/retail to find your nearest store.Apple Northbrook opened ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4.1 Update Coming Soon for iPhones

Wednesday April 9, 2025 8:56 am PDT by
Apple employees are testing iOS 18.4.1 for iPhones, according to the MacRumors visitor logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update will likely be released in a week or two, if not sooner. As the version number implies, iOS 18.4.1 will obviously be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. There are no...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

All the Design Changes Rumored for iOS 19 So Far

Tuesday April 8, 2025 2:04 pm PDT by
Apple is going to unveil iOS 19 in just about two months at its June WWDC event, and rumors suggest that it's going to bring a big change to the iPhone's design. It's been described as the most notable design overhaul since iOS 7, so it should be an exciting update. We've rounded up everything we've heard so far about the design changes coming to iOS 19. visionOS-like design with...

Top Rated Comments

cb3 Avatar
40 months ago
Did she build my iMac? ? I feel better already.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swingerofbirch Avatar
40 months ago
It's BS.

If they put people first they would employ them rather than use loopholes to have them provide labor with none of the rights of an employee.

Their revenue per number of employees ratio is completely lopsided.

I get tired of repeating my same story as I have in other threads, but I was put to work for Apple through a disability agency in my state. I was trained by Apple—training I had to pay for. Apple paid nothing into Social Security payroll tax because they have you incorporate yourself as a corporation of one and then subcontract out to your corporation and you are an employee of yourself, despite the fact that you use their systems and work alongside all their other AppleCare employees and contractors. You are the "face" of Apple and yet have no official association with them. At the time I did this there were about 12 large corporations in the US contracted for AppleCare and Apple Sales in the US. All were pitted against each other with impossible metrics. And then those corporations had subcontractors as well. Apple did have its own internal AppleCare employees, as well, who got benefits and had employee rights. But you weren't allowed to transfer from contract status to employee status. In fact you weren't even allowed to talk to Apple. You have no labor rights. It's like you're a carpenter building a deck for someone. Except you use the homeowner's tools, the homeowner tells you how to build the deck, gives you constant feedback, and you work for the homeowner's customers, and there are thousands of you working for the homeowner. In short, it's nothing like building a deck for someone, but they use the labor laws (or lack of them) like it is. I could go on, but I've repeated this ad nauseam so many times.

It's basically Uber but worse because with Uber there is one group of people who at least know what's going on with each other. This is like if Uber secretly had 12 different companies that competed against each other providing the exact same Uber service but with different names so they didn't know they were competing with each other within the same company and each of the 12 companies had even more subcontractors and they were all pitted against each other on price, but despite being 12 different companies it was all Uber service.

I shouldn't write as I'm falling asleep, but I get tired of Apple's BS.

Instead of "investing" $50 million, pay the GD Social Security payroll tax you're avoiding on the non-employees who are doing the *exact* work of employees.

Edit:
The last time one of these reports came out, I let Apple know what I thought. And I got no response.

Their supplier feedback web-site is now a 404:
https://www.apple.com/feedback/supplierresponsibility.html
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Razorpit Avatar
40 months ago

That model is not an assembly worker. Where is the dark skinned worker who looks like they have been working 60 hours and is about to pass out? Apple’s sugar coating in action.
The media has you brain washed. There are some extremely attractive people working on assembly lines.


Obviously it’s not an assembly workers as she isn’t assembling a computer. This is a QA tester. As for the dark skinned thing, did Foxconn move their plant out of China suddenly?
It’s funny you mention that. All “western” factories have forced diversity. Try to find a “minority” in an “eastern“ facility.


It’s all assembled in China, and no one employed there is dark skinned.
Not everything Apple comes from China.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
man3ster Avatar
40 months ago
That model is not an assembly worker. Where is the dark skinned worker who looks like they have been working 60 hours and is about to pass out? Apple’s sugar coating in action.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0924487 Avatar
40 months ago

That model is not an assembly worker. Where is the dark skinned worker who looks like they have been working 60 hours and is about to pass out? Apple’s sugar coating in action.
It’s all assembled in China, and no one employed there is dark skinned.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ComRadMac Avatar
40 months ago
Just your average factory worker, in full makeup and designer sweater. Totally normal.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)