• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechApple

Amazon Now Has Twice as Many Employees as Apple

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 8, 2016, 11:39 AM ET
FRANCE-DISTRIBUTION-AMAZON
An Amazon employeePhotograph by Philippe Huguen — AFP/Getty Images

Amazon has been on a hiring spree lately, as illustrated by today’s updated chart from Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research:

476634581293

America’s largest retailer online or off—it surpassed Walmart (WMT) last year—now employs nearly 240,000 people. That’s twice Apple’s (AAPL) headcount and nearly four times Google’s (GOOGL).

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Much of the hiring Amazon does, of course, is of a very different nature than the rest of the U.S. tech giants.

“Amazon is the only one of these companies that has a significant portion of its employees in very low-skill jobs with commensurately low wages,” writes Dawson. “So it can afford to generate under half a million dollars per employee on average annually.”

476634616670

Apple also engages the labor of large numbers of relatively low-wage workers, both in its retail operations and in the factories that assemble its products. But the lowest-paid workers in the company’s supply chain are employed by subcontractors, which is how Apple is able to generate, at least on paper, nearly $2 million per employee.

For more on Apple, watch:

Dawson’s post was published behind the Techpinions paywall. You can read it for 50 cents or subscribe to the full feed for $10 per month.

About the Author
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

A Waymo robotaxi drives along The Embarcadero on December 08, 2025 in San Francisco, California. Self-driving taxi company Waymo said it is voluntarily recalling software in its autonomous vehicles after Texas officials documented at least 19 incidents this school year in which the cars illegally passed stopped school buses, including while students were getting on or off.
Lawwaymo
A San Francisco woman just gave birth in a Waymo robotaxi—and Waymo says it’s not the first time that’s happened
By Janie Har and The Associated PressDecember 11, 2025
47 minutes ago
Sarandos
CommentaryAntitrust
Netflix’s takeover of Warner Brothers is a nightmare for consumers
By Ike BrannonDecember 11, 2025
2 hours ago
Musk
Big TechElon Musk
Elon Musk admits DOGE was only ‘somewhat successful’ and he should have ‘worked on my companies’ instead
By Bill Barrow and The Associated PressDecember 11, 2025
3 hours ago
Dresser
AIOpenAI
Slack CEO leaves Salesforce to become OpenAI’s first revenue chief, tackle multibillion-dollar losses
By The Associated PressDecember 11, 2025
3 hours ago
Sundar
CybersecurityAntitrust
Google illegally scraped the web to fix its AI problems and catch up to OpenAI, European regulators probe
By Kelvin Chan and The Associated PressDecember 11, 2025
3 hours ago
Warren
Big TechAntitrust
Warner Bros. merger fight draws fire across U.S. political divide
By Hannah Miller and BloombergDecember 11, 2025
3 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
At 18, doctors gave him three hours to live. He played video games from his hospital bed—and now, he’s built a $10 million-a-year video game studio
By Preston ForeDecember 10, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Politics
Exclusive: U.S. businesses are getting throttled by the drop in tourism from Canada: ‘I can count the number of Canadian visitors on one hand’
By Dave SmithDecember 10, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
‘Be careful what you wish for’: Top economist warns any additional interest rate cuts after today would signal the economy is slipping into danger
By Eva RoytburgDecember 10, 2025
22 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
‘Fodder for a recession’: Top economist Mark Zandi warns about so many Americans ‘already living on the financial edge’ in a K-shaped economy 
By Eva RoytburgDecember 9, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Netflix–Paramount bidding wars are pushing Warner Bros CEO David Zaslav toward billionaire status—he has one rule for success: ‘Never be outworked’
By Preston ForeDecember 10, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Uncategorized
Transforming customer support through intelligent AI operations
By Lauren ChomiukNovember 26, 2025
15 days ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.