I was on one of those "news" stories that is just a slide show with a top ten list. However, you can learn something from our new standard in journalism. The top companies hiring people for $60,000 or more (the amount I'd have to get to leave my day job) are almost all related to computers or banking, with a little inefficient shipping thrown in.
Amazon 2407 - The website photo showed some guy packaging an item. I guess I'm a bit cynical and tend to imagine that the shipping floor is not filled with folks making $60,000 or more a year, but I could be wrong. I assume most of the job opportunities at Amazon are in managing the people and technology to run the business.
Oracle 2350, Microsoft 2089, Dell 1862 - Three in a row that are making computers or programs for computers. I don't have the right degree, even though I'm good with using technology. You probably don't have the right degree, either. Someone from India might. Devices have mostly foreign-made components.
JPMorganChase 1761 - Making money off someone else's money, including mine, since I have a mortgage with them. It's kind of frustrating to know that the place that did nothing more than lend me money (that I'm going to pay back at about twice the amount I borrowed) employs so many people making more than I do. Their jobs include making sure that someone making less than them pays them enough to make more than that hard-working person who might add to society.
IBM 1755 - More computers. More jobs I can't get without the right credentials.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers 1571 - They make money off of other people's money while investing it and making sure they get just about the same rate of return that the individual would get doing it solo. Sometimes a little better, I suppose, but doesn't a lot of that net gain go into paying for expensive salaries? Anyhow, if you want to give me all of your retirement savings, I won't lose it any faster than the companies that do it for a living.
SAIC 1537 "provider of scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services and solutions." I'm sure you didn't know, either. I'm not sure they actually produce anything, but they at least seem to help others use something. Although it does show that consulting firms that help others use products do at least as well as manufacturing firms that actually produce those products.
CRST 1378 - Logistics management? I think it's a shipping company. They're probably good at making an inefficient service like OTR shipping more efficient, so they have a lot of positions to fill in doing that. I will assume it's not all their truck drivers making $60,000 plus, but then again, you never know.
Apple 1374 - Probably not their mall store employees, at least not before commissions. I'll assume it's the programmers and developers again.
Deloitte 1343 - Audit, Tax, Consulting & Financial Advisory Services. Making money off of others trying to pay as little money as they can to the government. In general, I'm in favor of avoiding as many taxes as I can, but I wonder whether what it says when a company that helps others do this is hiring so many. I suppose we don't want too many freeloaders making less than $60,000 to get their hands on our cash.
At&T - Definitely not their customer service folks. Maybe 60,000 rupees. It's not the people responsible for laying the fiber optic lines that I've never gotten to my house. I recently fired AT&T for continuing to take my money for very little.They're one of three options for internet in my area. The other one, until recently, forced you to get TV in order to get internet. Since that's no longer the case, good-bye AT&T. At least my $1000 a year won't be going into those big salaries.
HP - Make a slower, junkier computer and package it with lots of bells and whistles that never work that well. Luckily, I've learned my lesson and will not be adding my money to their coffers anymore. I'm not sure they really have an R and D department besides buying up other people's ideas, but they probably need people to slap disposable computers together and market them to big box retailers.
Henderson Trucking - Another logistics company. Too bad we can't ship using trains or other means that might be more efficient than tearing up all our roads, but I guess we all like our taxes to pay for free infrastructure for employers. Not if it's a school, of course.
General Dynamics - Finally, a company that produces something that's not technology... oh, wait, it's a huge defense contractor. So, these jobs are paid for by taxes, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is to blow other people up. I guess I wish General Motors was hiring over 1000 people to make cars for emerging world markets. Maybe if we blow up enough evil-doers, we'll pave the way for lots of manufacturing jobs.
Written by Brian Jaeger, owner of Satisfamily, McNewsy, PassivNinja, Educabana, RealWisconsinNews, ManCrushFanClub, WildWestAllis, SitcomLifeLessons, and VoucherSchool.