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seanmcdirmidtoday at 4:53 AM1 replyview on HN

I saw Indian workers in convenience stores when I was there. I thought that was kind of cool.


Replies

alephnerdtoday at 5:21 AM

Yep!

It's a very recent shift that began in the last 3-5 years.

Traditionally, India never had a Japanese vocational program in the manner you'd find in Vietnam, Thailand, China, Phillipines, etc but in 2021 [0], the Japanese and Indian government began working on a vocational/blue collar mobility program [1] to build a Vietnam, China, or Phillipines style pipeline.

There will be a lot of Indians coming, but they will be cycled back in 2-3 year batches to then become floor managers and foremen for Japanese fixed investments in India. It's the model that Japanese automotive JVs in India operated on for a decade [1].

And it's was these kinds of vocational programs that helped dramatically upskill Chinese manufacturing in the 2000s and 2010s.

[0] - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/govt-clears-india-jap...

[1] - https://www.jim-jec.in/