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Degrees in computer science and computer engineering are in the top 10 for average earnings. We get to build all kinds of cool stuff used by people around the w

Degrees in computer science and computer engineering are in the top 10 for average earnings. We get to build all kinds of cool stuff used by people around the world. For many of us, programming is fun. And we get paid to do it! Every day is programmer's day.

spiralganglion 15y ago
Some interesting data I pulled together today: Approximate revenue-per-employee. Data from Wolfram Alpha and Wikipedia. Apple makes $2,000,000 per employee. Facebook makes $1,500,000. Google makes $1,000,000. Microsoft makes $800,000. Sony makes $500,000. Kraft makes $400,000. Walmart makes $200,000. McDonalds makes $60,000. Now, if only there was a good source of users-per-engineer. I read that Facebook is somewhere around 1,260,000. That's just awesome. We create so much value, and for so many people.
- va1en0k 15y ago
  I hope you mean users-per-engineer. :-) Oh, seems that Facebook makes 1.2 dollars per user from your numbers
  - spiralganglion 15y ago
    Thanks for the correction. As for Facebook's revenue-per-user based on revenue-per-employee and number of users, you'll need the number of employees (not just engineers). That's about 2000, which works out to $4 per user. This is exactly inline with what was documented in this nifty chart: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/chart-of-the-day-revenue-per-unique-visitor-google-facebook-ebay-jan-2011.jpg http://wallstcheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/chart... Amazon is kicking ass. Apple only makes $150 revenue per iOS user (Asymco).
    - va1en0k 15y ago
      Wow, amazon really does kick ass. I think saving money on designers can be justified, after all ;-)
      - eftpotrm 15y ago
        Why should we be surprised that the company whose business is in shipping and selling a wide range of physical products has more revenue than a range of companies whose income are either service fees or advertisements? We're not comparing like with like; Amazon's revenue is counted against by buying and stocking the physical products they sell to derive that revenue. None of the others on that chart have physical product to worry about and so retain a much higher percentage of revenue for themselves.
        spiralganglion 15y ago
        By profit margin, Apple is a lot closer to the purely software companies than it is to the likes of the (nearly identical) Walmart and Amazon. http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/profit_margin#compCos=AMZN,MSFT,GOOG,WMT http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/profit_margin#compCos=AMZN...
    - xiaoma 15y ago
      I'd love to see where Adobe or Oracle would fit in on that chart.
- yesbabyyes 15y ago
  Instagram has 3 engineers[1], 9 million users[2]: 3 million users per engineer. [1] (counting the co-founders as engineers) http://www.crunchbase.com/company/instagram http://www.crunchbase.com/company/instagram [2] http://www.kullin.net/2011/09/instagram-now-has-9-million-users/ http://www.kullin.net/2011/09/instagram-now-has-9-million-us...
  - spiralganglion 15y ago
    And, unless I'm mistaken, a revenue hovering around $0. That's the hacker spirit.
    - dsl 15y ago
      The first rule of the bubble is you don't talk about things that might make it pop.
      - m_myers 15y ago
        Personally, I'm on pins and needles waiting to see if it will.
    - DannoHung 15y ago
      I know people like Instagram because of the filters and such, but is it cool otherwise? I mean, I've got it installed on my phone, but I hardly ever take pictures with my iPhone (3GS, maybe that explains it?) in the first place.
- smiler 15y ago
  Of course, these are interesting and great numbers, but I don't think that they are the only measure of value. McDonalds may make 'only' $60,000 per employee, but it employs over 1.5 million people. I'm grateful that McDs are providing jobs for those who need them. They also of course offer opportunities for people to own franchises and run their 'own' businesses
  - MikeMacMan 15y ago
    The 1.5 million you cite includes franchised employees, while the 60K revenue/employee number does not.
- sp332 15y ago
  Mozilla used to welcome each employee with a little knicknack and say, "This represents your million users. Try not to abuse them too much."
  - alnayyir 15y ago
    But not anymore? :(
    - sp332 15y ago
      I don't know, I heard it in an old interview with Aza Raskin, who doesn't even work there anymore. They might still do it :)
- mendocino 15y ago
  > Apple makes $2,000,000 per employee. Most of their employees are not engineers, but work in retail. Which makes it a bit of an odd case among the other tech companies :)
  - polynomial 15y ago
    Does the cited figure actually include every employee at every Apple store? Or just corporate employees?
mnemonicsloth 15y ago
Jerry Seinfeld: Don't give awards to comedians. Awards are for people who are looking for work, and we're not looking for work. http://bit.ly/qs3AJu http://bit.ly/qs3AJu [video]
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
ltamake 15y ago
A lot of programmers are unsung and don't get the praise they deserve. Sure, you have famous programmers like Woz and Zuckerberg, but there are a lot of talented people out there that aren't even given praise at work.

spiralganglion 15y ago

Some interesting data I pulled together today: Approximate revenue-per-employee. Data from Wolfram Alpha and Wikipedia. Apple makes $2,000,000 per employee. Facebook makes $1,500,000. Google makes $1,000,000. Microsoft makes $800,000. Sony makes $500,000. Kraft makes $400,000. Walmart makes $200,000. McDonalds makes $60,000. Now, if only there was a good source of users-per-engineer. I read that Facebook is somewhere around 1,260,000. That's just awesome. We create so much value, and for so many people.

va1en0k 15y ago
I hope you mean users-per-engineer. :-) Oh, seems that Facebook makes 1.2 dollars per user from your numbers
- spiralganglion 15y ago
  Thanks for the correction. As for Facebook's revenue-per-user based on revenue-per-employee and number of users, you'll need the number of employees (not just engineers). That's about 2000, which works out to $4 per user. This is exactly inline with what was documented in this nifty chart: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/chart-of-the-day-revenue-per-unique-visitor-google-facebook-ebay-jan-2011.jpg http://wallstcheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/chart... Amazon is kicking ass. Apple only makes $150 revenue per iOS user (Asymco).
  - va1en0k 15y ago
    Wow, amazon really does kick ass. I think saving money on designers can be justified, after all ;-)
    - eftpotrm 15y ago
      Why should we be surprised that the company whose business is in shipping and selling a wide range of physical products has more revenue than a range of companies whose income are either service fees or advertisements? We're not comparing like with like; Amazon's revenue is counted against by buying and stocking the physical products they sell to derive that revenue. None of the others on that chart have physical product to worry about and so retain a much higher percentage of revenue for themselves.
      - spiralganglion 15y ago
        By profit margin, Apple is a lot closer to the purely software companies than it is to the likes of the (nearly identical) Walmart and Amazon. http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/profit_margin#compCos=AMZN,MSFT,GOOG,WMT http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/profit_margin#compCos=AMZN...
  - xiaoma 15y ago
    I'd love to see where Adobe or Oracle would fit in on that chart.
yesbabyyes 15y ago
Instagram has 3 engineers[1], 9 million users[2]: 3 million users per engineer. [1] (counting the co-founders as engineers) http://www.crunchbase.com/company/instagram http://www.crunchbase.com/company/instagram [2] http://www.kullin.net/2011/09/instagram-now-has-9-million-users/ http://www.kullin.net/2011/09/instagram-now-has-9-million-us...
- spiralganglion 15y ago
  And, unless I'm mistaken, a revenue hovering around $0. That's the hacker spirit.
  - dsl 15y ago
    The first rule of the bubble is you don't talk about things that might make it pop.
    - m_myers 15y ago
      Personally, I'm on pins and needles waiting to see if it will.
  - DannoHung 15y ago
    I know people like Instagram because of the filters and such, but is it cool otherwise? I mean, I've got it installed on my phone, but I hardly ever take pictures with my iPhone (3GS, maybe that explains it?) in the first place.
smiler 15y ago
Of course, these are interesting and great numbers, but I don't think that they are the only measure of value. McDonalds may make 'only' $60,000 per employee, but it employs over 1.5 million people. I'm grateful that McDs are providing jobs for those who need them. They also of course offer opportunities for people to own franchises and run their 'own' businesses
- MikeMacMan 15y ago
  The 1.5 million you cite includes franchised employees, while the 60K revenue/employee number does not.
sp332 15y ago
Mozilla used to welcome each employee with a little knicknack and say, "This represents your million users. Try not to abuse them too much."
- alnayyir 15y ago
  But not anymore? :(
  - sp332 15y ago
    I don't know, I heard it in an old interview with Aza Raskin, who doesn't even work there anymore. They might still do it :)
mendocino 15y ago
> Apple makes $2,000,000 per employee. Most of their employees are not engineers, but work in retail. Which makes it a bit of an odd case among the other tech companies :)
- polynomial 15y ago
  Does the cited figure actually include every employee at every Apple store? Or just corporate employees?

mnemonicsloth 15y ago

Jerry Seinfeld: Don't give awards to comedians. Awards are for people who are looking for work, and we're not looking for work. http://bit.ly/qs3AJu http://bit.ly/qs3AJu [video]

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

ltamake 15y ago

A lot of programmers are unsung and don't get the praise they deserve. Sure, you have famous programmers like Woz and Zuckerberg, but there are a lot of talented people out there that aren't even given praise at work.