Apple has released its 13th annual Supplier Responsibility Progress Report detailing how the company is expanding educational opportunities and protecting the planet’s resources.
As of 2018, 17.3 million supplier employees have been trained on workplace rights, and 3.6 million have received advanced education and skills training. All final assembly sites for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods and HomePod are now certified Zero Waste to Landfill, while conserving billions of gallons of water and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“In everything we do, people come first,” Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer, says in a press announcement. “We are constantly raising the bar for ourselves and our suppliers because we are committed to the people who make our products possible as well as the planet we all share. This year, we’re proud to give more people an opportunity to advance their education. Working alongside our suppliers, we’re challenging ourselves to find new ways to keep our planet healthy for future generations. Our goal has always been not just to drive progress in our supply chain, but to drive meaningful change across the industry.”
In 2018, Apple built on its existing educational and career-building programs for supplier employees by adding courses that include App Development with Swift. The program’s first participants created more than 40 apps, ranging from workplace tools to games.
Last year, more than 1,500 employees at Apple suppliers earned a college degree, adding to the thousands who have taken advantage of education programming, which expands every year. Additionally, Apple has worked with its suppliers to create health training programs that have reached more than 250,000 people globally, and include courses on nutrition and maternal health.