The company behind the iPhone just announced that it will invest $30 billion in the U.S economy over the next five years. The new set of investments will help create over 20,000 jobs in the US during the time frame of the investment. They also announced that they will be building a new campus in the US and bring billions of dollars from overseas back to the US.
According to Apple, they have already contributed in creating and supporting over 2 million jobs across the United States and currently having 84,000 employees in over 50 states. This will only help create more. The tech giant says it’ll be focusing on three key areas where Apple is best at creating jobs: direct employment by Apple (in the form of working at retail stores), spending and investment with Apple’s domestic manufacturers and suppliers, and also fueling the app economy Apple has in the form of the App Store that’s found in all Apple devices.
Lower taxes on international revenue will allow the company to invest more in the economy says Apple. A lot of that money will be invested in capital expenditures. Around $10 billion will be spent on more data centers across the US, Apple already data centers in a few states, this will help add more and provide an overall better service to its customers as well as help create more jobs.
Apple will also raise its Advanced Manufacturing fund from $1 billion $5 billion. The fund aims to help support innovation among American manufacturers in order to keep progressing as an economy. According to Apple, the fund is already backing projects in Kentucky and rural Texas.
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Apple will also expand on the programs they’re already offering in order to help reduce the coding skills gap such as the free Swift playgrounds app. Swift is an easy-to-learn coding language created by Apple. Not only will the company expand on initiatives its already taken towards education, it will also increase funding for its ConnectED program. The ConnectED program helps historically underprivileged communities get a chance to learn to code and enjoy the benefits of technology like everyone else.
Apple estimates a $55 billion spending on new investments for 2018. Apple also says that it’ll spend $350 billion as a direct contribution to the economy over the next 5 years. This contribution does not include Apple’s current tax payments nor does it include the tax revenue that’s generated from the sale of their products or from their employees’ wages.
Moreover, Apple also calls itself the highest taxpayer in the United States and it looks to contribute over $38 billion in taxes. According to Apple this tax payment “would likely be the largest of its kind ever made.”. Apple opened a new headquarters in Cupertino last year and looks to build a new campus at a new location. This campus will initially work towards housing employees that offer technical customer support to Apple users. The location will be announced later.
The reasons for their contribution?
According to Apple, they feel responsible for giving back to their country as the success they have achieved wouldn’t be possible without the United States. CEO Tim Cook said:
“Apple is a success story that could only have happened in America, and we are proud to build on our long history of support for the US economy.” He also said:
“We believe deeply in the power of American ingenuity, and we are focusing our investments in areas where we can have a direct impact on job creation and job preparedness. We have a deep sense of responsibility to give back to our country and the people who help make our success possible.”
However, many also think that this is to cover up for recent events. Apple has been under severe criticism lately for allegedly slowing down older phones without telling its customers. The company responded by saying that the problem lies in the batteries, as they get older they cannot handle the charge as well as the newer batteries. However, Apple has received a lot of community backlash and many people have sued the company as well.
Whatever the intention was, nothing can be taken away from the fact that Apple’s contribution will have a major impact on the economy. It will not only help create jobs for more people but also help equip the newer generations with the coding skills many firms require nowadays.
