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Boeing’s first engineer came from China. Now it hires mostly from India

  • US aerospace giant Boeing is hiring significantly more engineers in India than China, as the US reduces its dependence on Chinese talent

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Boeing has more job openings for engineers in India than in China amid a general distancing of US firms from Chinese talent. Photo: Reuters
Boeing is hiring nearly 20 times more engineers in India than in China, as the United States seeks to lessen its dependence on Chinese talent amid geopolitical concerns.
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As of Wednesday, five jobs were available in China on the Boeing Careers site, three of which were for engineering roles.

Meanwhile, India had 83 job openings, with 58 for engineering roles – equating to 19 times more available engineering roles in India than in China. That gap has remained in the same region for at least a couple of weeks.

According to Boeing, which is struggling through one of its biggest safety and management crises for decades, it has around 2,200 employees in China, and more than 6,000 in India, where the size of the country’s total commercial aviation fleet is about a sixth of China’s.
Many top US companies have India in their sights, as the nation becomes a growing hub for American companies looking to diversify their manufacturing base away from China.
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Recent comments from a senior US official about recruiting more Indian students over Chinese students for STEM majors also indicate the country is not only looking to India to build its new factories, but for its scientific talent as well.

Yet China’s engineering expertise is part of what helped Boeing achieve a duopoly – along with Europe’s Airbus – over global aircraft manufacturing.

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