Tata Electronics is poised to equal Foxconn’s employee strength in India within the next six months, with plans to lift its headcount at the Hosur facility from 60,000 to approximately 75,000. The expansion reflects the company’s accelerating operations, propelled chiefly by the rapid growth in electronics manufacturing services linked to Apple’s extraordinary momentum, according to people familiar with the matter.
Exports of Apple’s iPhones reached a record 10 billion dollars in the first half of the current fiscal year, marking a steep rise of 75 per cent from 5.71 billion dollars in the corresponding period last year, as reported by sources in the previous month.
Apple and Tata Electronics did not respond to requests for comment.
“Tata Electronics is ramping up rapidly to keep up with demand from Apple,” one person cited said. “In the next six months or so, their headcount is likely to be at the same level as that of Foxconn, signalling the feverish pace of growth in recent times.”
“It’s a significant achievement for the industry at large for an Indian player to reach this scale in a short span of time and to be part of a global value chain (GVC) like Apple’s,” the person added.
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The company has swiftly become a vital contributor to its parent’s financial strength, underscored by its rising prominence within India’s electronics and semiconductor ecosystem. Tata Electronics reported revenue of Rs 66,601 crore in FY25, a dramatic leap from Rs 3,752 crore the previous year, according to the Tata Sons annual report and filings reviewed by ET.
However, sourcing adequate talent remains a serious obstacle. “Tata Electronics is struggling with finding enough skilled manpower,” one of the people said. “As the scale gets bigger and bigger, they are recognising that they have to be more thoughtful about how they approach factors like manpower, water, power and other things. There's a need, especially to solve for the talent piece because customer traction and other factors are rock solid.”
A nationwide skills crisis
This challenge is not unique to Tata Electronics. Industry experts warn that the skills deficit is projected to widen to 16.9 per cent, with an annual incremental shortfall of more than two million workers.
“The output from our skilling institutes is unable to match the speed at which these companies are ramping up. The supply has been lagging behind the demand from the industry,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director and chief executive officer of CIEL HR. “There is also no readily available talent as the industry is still nascent.”
High attrition is another persistent concern. “In other sectors, aspects like salaries and employee benefits are more standardised,” Mishra noted. “But these are growth pangs that the industry will have to go through to reach a stage of maturity.”
Another recruitment specialist pointed to systemic shortcomings in workforce preparation. “The low investment by companies in training shop floor technicians only increases the skill gap,” the person said. “There is also migration of electrical engineering employees to IT, which poses a challenge as data and consulting jobs are coveted amongst job seekers.”
A report released in November last year by TeamLease Services highlighted the acute talent deficit facing India’s fast-rising electronics manufacturing sector. It is projected that by 2027 to 2028, the industry will employ 12 million people across direct and indirect roles, yet face a workforce shortfall of eight million and a skills gap affecting a further 10 million. Crucial talent shortages were identified in specialised domains such as communication and broadcast electronics, consumer electronics, industrial electronics and aerospace and defence electronics.
As Tata Electronics scales up to meet the extraordinary demand from global giants, the broader industry’s struggle to cultivate sufficient skilled talent remains one of the most pressing obstacles to sustaining India’s rise as a manufacturing powerhouse.
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