Sunday November 27, 2011

Paul Higgins: Not sure that this is strictly comparable as the ecosystem that is formed by these technologies creates far more jobs than a direct manufacture a product and deliver it business

• “Digital” businesses like Apple employ far fewer people (per profit) than traditional manufacturing businesses.

• Apple’s 60,000+ jobs are not just in the US—they’re spread around the world.

• Apple’s extraordinary ~25% profit margin means that the benefits of its success accrue primarily to a relatively small group of shareholders rather than a broad base of employees.

To put this in context, the Economist recently noted that Apple, Amazon, and Google together employ 113,000 people—which is less than 1/3rd as many as a single American success-story from the prior generation, GM, employed in 1980.