Foxconn and other Taiwanese companies have always had issues with hiring workforces in countries without a significant Chinese speaking community.
Unlike Korean and Japanese companies, the Taiwanese companies employees would have a a weaker grasp on the local language or English and remain isolated and aloof. I remember visiting India as a kid fairly often, and Korean and Japanese kids would attend my cousin's normal English speaking Indian middle class elementary school, while the Taiwanese community had their own Chinese speaking school they attended. The Japanese and Korean companies like Nippon Sharyo, Samsung, and Hyundai would actually train locals from assembly to R&D to management but the Taiwanese companies couldn't care less.
It's the same in Vietnam as well - Koreans and Japanese will try to explore Saigon and mix with locals, but Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese will stick to District 5 (the Saigon Chinatown).
A good example is Foxconn in Mexico vs Vietnam. Foxconn Mexico has been facing similar problems as Foxconn India due to the lack of a local Chinese speaking community to hire from, but Foxconn Vietnam has been benefiting from hiring local management from the Hoa/ethnic Chinese community in VN or bringing in ethnic Chinese from MY or SG to manage operations. They even discriminate in China [1]
This is the same reason why Foxconn became a significant manufacturing player in China compared to similar Japanese and Korean companies - being able to source local leadership in Guangzhou is easy when most Taiwanese have familial and cultural relationships across the Strait.
Apple seems to be annointing Tata as their Indian Foxconn from the looks of it as well [0], and it makes sense. The same way Foxconn could open doors in China, Tata can in India.
Unlike Korean and Japanese companies, the Taiwanese companies employees would have a a weaker grasp on the local language or English and remain isolated and aloof. I remember visiting India as a kid fairly often, and Korean and Japanese kids would attend my cousin's normal English speaking Indian middle class elementary school, while the Taiwanese community had their own Chinese speaking school they attended. The Japanese and Korean companies like Nippon Sharyo, Samsung, and Hyundai would actually train locals from assembly to R&D to management but the Taiwanese companies couldn't care less.
It's the same in Vietnam as well - Koreans and Japanese will try to explore Saigon and mix with locals, but Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese will stick to District 5 (the Saigon Chinatown).
A good example is Foxconn in Mexico vs Vietnam. Foxconn Mexico has been facing similar problems as Foxconn India due to the lack of a local Chinese speaking community to hire from, but Foxconn Vietnam has been benefiting from hiring local management from the Hoa/ethnic Chinese community in VN or bringing in ethnic Chinese from MY or SG to manage operations. They even discriminate in China [1]
This is the same reason why Foxconn became a significant manufacturing player in China compared to similar Japanese and Korean companies - being able to source local leadership in Guangzhou is easy when most Taiwanese have familial and cultural relationships across the Strait.
Apple seems to be annointing Tata as their Indian Foxconn from the looks of it as well [0], and it makes sense. The same way Foxconn could open doors in China, Tata can in India.
[0] - https://www.reuters.com/technology/tata-make-iphones-india-a...
[1] - https://www.theinformation.com/articles/some-apple-suppliers...