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India is a rich source of talent for planemakers facing record orders as travel picks up again Boeing Co. and Airbus SE are increasingly looking to India for low-cost, highly-skilled engineers to meet growing demand for aircraft and expand their manufacturing presence in the world's fifth-largest economy. Airbus plans to hire 1,000 people in India this year out of 13,000 worldwide. Boeing and its suppliers, which already employ about 18,000 people in the country, have been adding to their workforce by about 1,500 each year, Salil Gupte, the US planemaker's India director, told Bloomberg News in an interview.
With around 1.5 million engineering students graduating each year, India is a rich source of talent for aircraft manufacturers facing record airline orders as travel spikes again after the Covid pandemic. Boeing can hire an engineer in Bangalore for 7% of the cost of a similar position in Seattle, according to salary data compiler Glassdoor.
India has the world's second-largest Boeing workforce, Gupte said.
"Companies come to India for the incredible talent for innovation, not just in technology and software, but also in hardware engineering and increasingly in manufacturing," he told the Aero India show in Bangalore last month.
Along with the increase in hiring, Boeing and Airbus are also setting up some production in India, which is being pitched as a less politically fraught alternative to China.
Boeing signed a partnership with GMR Aero Technic Ltd on March 10. to convert passenger planes to freighters in Hyderabad, where it already has a manufacturing plant for vertical fins, which stabilize the planes. The plant, which employs more than 900 engineers and technicians, also produces Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter structures, including airframes for customers around the world.
Airbus has also touted India's manufacturing prospects as it recruits in the country. In October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a ceremony in Gujarat to mark the start of construction of a facility where Airbus Defense & Space SA and a unit of local conglomerate Tata Group will build C-295 transport planes for the military. Indian.
The nation is an emerging market for sales, with the revitalization of Air India Ltd. which last month placed a highly successful order for 470 aircraft, divided among aircraft manufacturers.
“The time has come for India to become an international hub,” Guillaume Faury, Airbus chief executive, said when ordering the plane. "India is on the right track."
A large pool of educated, English-speaking talent adds to India's appeal as a recruiting location.
Airbus employs more than 700 people in an engineering center in Bangalore and more than 150 more in customer services there, as well as in New Delhi. India has a "unique ability" to support the company with its skilled workforce, an Airbus representative told Bloomberg, adding that hiring in the country "is not really" at the expense of jobs elsewhere.
A Boeing representative said the planemaker is tapping into India's talent in engineering, technology and research and development. The company said it plans to hire 10,000 people worldwide this year after adding nearly 15,000 in 2022, with a focus on engineering and manufacturing.
Still, the Seattle Times reported last month that Boeing would cut some 2,000 jobs, mainly in finance and human resources, but did not specify where. Some of this work is outsourced to Tata's consulting arm in India.
Gupte defended Boeing's emphasis on hiring in India, saying a larger workforce there will help create jobs in the United States. Expanding manufacturing and innovation capabilities in the country will attract more customers and boost demand for Boeing products, boosting employment, he said.
