Many large corporations that are U.S based find that sending the jobs over seas is a no brainer and Apple is no different. It’s not that these corporations are evil and hate the U.S, it’s that globalization is an integral part of doing business in today’s world, but does it leave enough behind for the U.S?
A great question was asked of Tim Cook (Apple’s CEO) in an interview with Bloomberg last week. The question was, “What are the obligations of an American company to be patriotic, and what do you think that means in a globalized era?”. Cook replied with, ” I do feel we have a responsibility to create jobs. I don’t think we have a responsibility to create a certain kind of job, but I think we do have a responsibility to create jobs.”
Further in the discussion Cook mentioned that businesses are often being evaluated by the number of employees that a company has in order to deduce what kind of job growth they have contributed to over the year, he went on to mention that this is an outdated technique and that Apple, for example, has created jobs in many other ways. One of the ways that Apple has indirectly created jobs is by offering entrepreneurs a way to be successful through software development and utilizing the App Store.
Apple is going a step further in U.S job creation by taking a more direct approach as Cook mentions bringing some Mac production back to the states. There could be as many as 200 new jobs in the U.S with Apple’s effort to bring some work back home. This of course would be great news for a tough U.S economy. Many of these jobs will be manufacturing jobs that offer pay from 30k up to 65k a year.
I feel that any U.S company should offer some direct employment opportunities right here in the U.S. Although it’s not a requirement, it’s expected and why not reward the country that allows you to become successful in the first place? I understand the importance of a global economy but how much risk is there in bringing even a handful of jobs back home, perhaps in areas of the country that need them the most. It’s more of an investment in the stability of the U.S economy that you grow in, albeit small. We should look at a company the way Cook mentions in the interview and try to see all aspects of job growth provided by a company and not just it’s employees.
As a software developer myself, (currently by hobby) I can’t help but to stand back and look at how many tools today’s software companies and even individuals have at their disposal. Thanks to companies like Apple and Microsoft there are tons of resources available to get you off the ground and then there’s this great platform to showcase your product in front of millions and millions of people. The logistics of software production and distribution even 10 years ago was a huge stone wall to many and now it’s possible to sell millions of copies of the game digitally and practically overnight. This creates jobs and yes Apple is partly responsible for that happening.
Hopefully, other corporations will continue to bring jobs back to the U.S and not just manufacturing jobs either. We need high skilled jobs as well, but that requires that we have high skilled workers and our obligation is to improve our educational system to allow for better opportunities to learn the skills required for these jobs. Most employers don’t want to spend the time and money to train new employees, they expect you to have the experience when you walk in the door. Unfortunately, this creates a catch 22 situation. You need the experience to get the job but no one will hire you without the experience. We need to address this issue in the U.S and employers should work a bit closer with educators to make this problem disappear.
In the meantime, having any direct job creation here in the U.S is a good thing because we have all kinds of skilled people here at home that could benefit greatly from any opportunity given to us by these large corporations. We will have to wait and see how things work out for Apple in this new U.S job push.
