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Apple says it supports over half a million jobs in the UK

Inside Apple's new UK headquarters at the iconic Battersea Power Station (source: Apple)

From its office and retail staff to suppliers and developers, Apple claims that 550,000 jobs in the UK have been created because of its continued investment.

Apple has recently begun expanding Apple Pay features in the UK, and also recently lobbied against the local government's unenforceable aims to weaken privacy. Now it calculates that including the nearly 8,000 staff it directly employs in the country, Apple says it supports in excess of 550,000 UK jobs.

"For more than four decades, Apple has been proud to be part of communities across the UK," said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement. "Whether it's enriching the lives of our customers, helping support incredible developers, working closely with suppliers, or opening our stunning new UK headquarters, we are deeply committed to creating jobs and harnessing creativity throughout the country."

The "stunning new UK headquarters" are in the recently "reimagined" Battersea Power Station. As well as the Apple Battersea store that opened in June 2023, the complex houses Apple's UK headquarters.

Apple also says that it has corporate offices in St. Albans and Swindon, plus a new Cambridge office with hundreds of staff working on AI.

The company also counts its investment in Apple TV+ production — shows such as "Slow Horses" are made in the UK. Apple says that in total, its investment in the UK over the last five years has seen it spending almost $20 billion with hundreds of companies.



4 Comments

Marvin 15355 comments · 18 Years

1.5% of the British workforce have jobs because of Apple? I’m calling bullshit on that one. 

That's not what it says, it says they support 550,000 jobs. The app development industry alone according to the following site says there are 65k employees:

https://www.ibisworld.com/united-kingdom/market-research-reports/app-development-industry/#IndustryStatisticsAndTrends

Then there's all the sales in 3rd party stores and resellers for their products and accessories plus shipping.

Apple's just pointing out the economic activity that is in some way attributable to them. If their $20b investment was spent on salaries, that's enough for $50k x 400,000 full-time jobs.

It's not like they just pull the number out of nowhere, they have accountants who know where all their investments went.

xbit 399 comments · 9 Years

I don’t know if 550,000 is accurate but, as an app developer, I’m one of them.

The UK’s film and TV industry is huge at the moment though and Apple pump a lot of money into it.

Alex_V 269 comments · 6 Years

Marvin said:
1.5% of the British workforce have jobs because of Apple? I’m calling bullshit on that one. 
That's not what it says, it says they support 550,000 jobs. The app development industry alone according to the following site says there are 65k employees:

https://www.ibisworld.com/united-kingdom/market-research-reports/app-development-industry/#IndustryStatisticsAndTrends

Then there's all the sales in 3rd party stores and resellers for their products and accessories plus shipping.

Apple's just pointing out the economic activity that is in some way attributable to them. If their $20b investment was spent on salaries, that's enough for $50k x 400,000 full-time jobs.

It's not like they just pull the number out of nowhere, they have accountants who know where all their investments went.

What constitutes “support”? Selling of one lightning cable per annum? If so, equally bullshit then. 

Who sells one lightning cable per annum?