The tech industry is akin to the snowball effect; its growth is built upon the development of tech companies that have become key drivers in economic growth, posting over $4 trillion in annual revenues.
- The big tech companies include Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet Inc, Meta Platforms, Tesla, Oracle, and Amazon.
- The tech industry employs more than 12.2 million workers, with the employment growth rate expected to grow at a 6.7% annual rate.
- The most lucrative roles in the tech industry are software developers, data analysts, information systems security analysts, artificial intelligence engineers, and mobile applications developers.
- Big tech workers earn almost twice what any other worker in the rest of the economy earns, with the average wage rate in big tech clocking in at $97,430 compared to the $45,760 average for occupations.
There are over 507,000 technology companies in the United States, and by revenue count, it’s the largest tech sector globally. From innovative digital infrastructure to next-gen tech devices and services, the tech industry is growing steadily and is expected to surpass the $5 trillion revenue mark in the 2022 financial year.
To get a clear picture of what companies are in the technology sector, revenue numbers and market cap are the best indicators that one can use to rank the firms. Let’s explore the list of the t0p technology companies, their annual revenue, full-time jobs, and future roles in big tech.
What tech companies are in the technology sector?
Apple
Annual revenue: $387 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 154,000
Average wage: $143,362
Apple is the largest tech company globally and the most valuable;e stock in the global stock market, with a $2.2 trillion market capitalization. It was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Wozniak. Apple began as a personal computer producer but has increased its lineup of tech gadgets and services over the years. Their most profitable line is the iPhone smartphone segment, Mac laptops and desktop computers, smartwatches, smart TVs, and tablets.
Apple is known for its quality and consumer-centric products that are privacy-focused. As a result, the company is always on the hunt for tech workers to grow its products and work on improving its services. Apple’s most sought-after roles include software engineering, iOS development, and machine learning engineering.
Microsoft
Annual revenue: $185 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 221,000
Average wage: $120,662
Microsoft is a computer software and consumer electronics company founded by Paul Ellen and Bill gates in 1975. One of Microsoft’s most renowned products is the Windows operating system and its suite of productivity programs, such as MS Office.
As the company expanded its diversification into internet solutions, it acquired Skype, Linkedin, and Github subsidiaries. Microsoft is ranked as one of the best technology companies to work for, and with over $184 billion in annual revenue, Forbes ranked it as one of the world’s most influential and valuable company.
Amazon
Annual revenue: $485 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 1.6 Million
Average wage: $114,073
When Jeff Bezos started Amazon in 1994, it was just an online book store. Ever since its growth into the world’s largest marketplace. As Amazon became one of the world’s largest tech companies over time, it spread its reach into the tech field. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the largest tech companies offering cloud computing and web hosting providers.
Amazon Prime Video service and Prime Studios represent Amazon’s all-in venture into filmmaking and content streaming services. The company also produces a whole host of consumer gadgets and automation systems.
Tesla
Annual revenue: $67 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 99,000
Average wage: $110,000
Tesla might be the leader in electric vehicle manufacturing, but it’s more than just an electric vehicle manufacturing company. According to its CEO, Tesla is a tech company that also happens to be a tech company. The company designs and manufactures most of the tech that goes into its EVs, and it’s constantly hiring software programmers and AI engineers to work on its full self-driving (FSD) program.
Tesla is currently in the design phase of the Teslabot, a humanoid robot set to revolutionize the workforce. Its energy subsidiary manufactures solar roofs and battery packs in a bid to speed up the transition to renewable energy.
Samsung electronics
Annual revenue: $250 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 266,673
Average wage: $141,353
Samsung is a global leader in the tech manufacturing sector with products in just about any electronic segment, from Smartphones to laptops and home equipment. What started in 1969 as a family-owned business has, over the decades, grown into one of the world’s largest tech companies, a fully-fledged appliance manufacturer and chips fabricator.
Samsung Electronics hires a wide range of technical workers who get to work in the software end of their product lines, including computer programmers, data analysts, AI engineers, and low-level programming technicians.
Alphabet Inc
Annual revenue: $278 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 156,500
Average wage: $129,554 Billion (2021)
Alphabet Inc is Google’s parent company and one of the global tech giants. Its most successful product is the Google search engine which serves over 1 billion search requests daily. Alphabet also owns YouTube, which is the most frequently used content platform.
Google Cloud manages over 50 data centers worldwide. Alphabet also has a large stake in the advertisement industry, with Google Ads leading the park in online advertising. Google also owns the Android operating system, the largest smartphone operating system by market share globally. The company is also hiring machine learning engineers for its Waymo subsidiary. Other high-demand positions on Alphabet include software engineering and data analysis.
Foxconn
Annual revenue: $219 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 1.29 Million
Average wage: $123,884
Foxconn is an international electronics contract manufacturer that currently holds the number one position in technology manufacturing services worldwide. Its main products include computer chips, PCB components, and consumer electronics. Foxconn manufactures, on average, 40% of all consumer electronics used on the entire planet.
What began as an electrical components manufacturing line in 1974 has quickly expanded into the most trusted chip manufacturer with exclusive production plans with all the major tech companies. Apple, Intel, Sony, and Microsoft are some of Foxconn’s key customers. The most sought-after roles at Foxconn include quality engineers, information technology engineers, virtual manufacturing engineers, and computer scientists.
Meta platforms
Annual revenue: $120 Billion
Full-time jobs: 71,970
Average wage: $140,602
Meta Platforms owns the top three social platforms by user count and is one of the most valuable tech companies worldwide. The company started as a college social site back in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg in Cambridge. Currently, Meta owns Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Reality Labs, and Novi Financial.
With its success in social media platforms garnering over three billion daily users across its sites, Meta is looking to pivot into the metaverse. This virtual reality universe is set to redefine how humans interact with each other over virtual reality and augmented reality tech. The company is renowned for its supportive work culture and great employee benefits. The most sought-after roles at Meta include software engineering, mobile development, virtual reality development, and machine learning engineering.
Intel corporation
Annual revenue: $73 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 121,100
Average wage: $132,248
Intel is the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturer and is considered one most influential tech companies in the rise of personal computers. Intel supplies computer system microprocessors for major brands such as HP, Dell, Acer, and Lenovo. Its CPU business and systems on chip (SOCs) generate the largest share of its annual revenue, which surpassed $79 billion in 2021.
Intel is also rolling out its dedicated graphics cards lineup, which is set to compete with Nvidia and AMD’s GPUs. The company is also engaged in network interfaces, integrated circuits, and flash memory manufacturing. As part of their diversification drive, Intel has been designing and manufacturing vehicle automation sensors and artificial intelligence solutions. The company offers a wide range of tech roles in software development, computer engineering, machine learning, and data analysis.
IBM
Annual revenue: $50 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 282,000
Average wage: $117,000
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a multinational tech corporation headquartered in New York. IBM has operations in over 171 countries and a wide range of products and services in information technology. The company designs and produces computer software, hardware, and middleware, as well as offering consulting services in the tech industry.
IBM’s main products are centered around automation, artificial intelligence, cloud computing services, robotics, blockchain, and quantum computing. IBM also happens to be one of the largest mainframe computer manufacturers deployed in its data centers and large corporations. Its research organization annually patents new products and tech solutions to remain competitive. IBM’s most in-demand tech jobs include software engineering, data analytics, Artificial intelligence engineering, and cloud engineering.
TSMC
Annual revenue: $65 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 65,152
Average wage: $129,565
Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company (TSMC) is a multinational semiconductor contract design and manufacturing company that’s currently the most valuable semiconductor manufacturer worldwide. The company operates the largest semiconductor foundry that serves fabless semiconductor companies, including Apple, ARM, AMD, MediaTek, Nvidia, MArvel, and Broadcom.
Besides producing CPUs and GPUs, the company also designs and manufactures microprocessors, SOCs, network interfaces, digital light processors, embedded processors, and drivers. Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing compnay is one of the largest employers of tech talent ranging from chip engineers to AI engineers and computer programmers who work on the drivers and low-level machine code.
AMD
Annual revenue: 21.5 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 15,500
Average wage: $103,119
Advanced Micro Devices is an American semiconductor company that develops computer processors, graphics cards, and other consumer technologies. AMD’s product line includes microprocessors, embedded processors, graphics cards, servers, and workstaTIONS.
Over the years, AMD’s product lineup has become more consumer-focused. It now includes TV accessories, motherboard chipsets, solid-state drives, personal computers, and the drivers for its lineup of computer hardware. The most in-demand tech roles at AND include software engineers, computer programmers, data analysts, Machine learning experts, and information security experts.
Nvidia
Annual revenue: $29.7 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 22,473
Average wage: $143,472
Nvidia is an American-based multinational tech company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The company primarily designs GPUs, CPUs, TV accessories, data processing units, and tablet computers. Nvidia also designs application programming interfaces (APIs) for high-performance computing in data centers and data science applications.
The fabless chip producer also deals with the system on a chip (SOCs)for the automotive and mobile computing market. Nvidia is also one of the biggest artificial intelligence hardware producers. Its workstations are used for scientific research, automotive, media, entertainment, engineering, and architecture design. Nvidia’s most in-demand tech jobs include computer engineers, chip designers, information technology experts, AI engineers, and software developers.
Tencent Holdings
Annual revenue: 85.9 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 112,800
Average wage: $133,308
Tencent is an entertainment and technology multinational conglomerate with major stakes in the video game industry. The company was founded in 1998 as a marketing agency for internet-related services and, over time, has grown into a multi-billion dollar holding company. Tencent is one of the largest tech companies that has invested in mobile gaming.
Tencent’s main products revolve around artificial intelligence, video games, film production, music, payment systems, social networking, search engine, automation, and mass media. The company also runs e-commerce, web browser, and antivirus software brands. With over 112,771 employees globally, Tencent is always looking to onboard new tech talent. The most sought-after roles at Tencent include video game development, software development, artificial intelligence engineering, and cloud engineering.
Accenture
Annual revenue: $59.5 Billion (2021)
Full-time jobs: 624,000
Average wage: $117,185
Accenture is a professional services company specializing in information technology consulting services. Its top clients include over 91 of the largest tech companies in the Fortune Global 100 companies. As of 2021, the company reported $50 billion in revenue. Accenture has more than 624,000 employees worldwide, serving in consulting, strategy, and tech operations.
Accenture deals with a wide range of information technology consultancy services, from cybersecurity to cloud computing and digital engineering. The firm is on an aggressive expansion path acquiring numerous IT subsidiaries globally as it seeks to cement its foothold as the global managed services and tech consultancy leader. The most in-demand tech skills at Accenture include digital marketing, data analytics, mobility services, IT services, software engineering, and cloud development.
Conclusion
The tech industry is a significant economic growth pillar, and as more businesses opt for innovative digital infrastructure, the technology industry is expected to surpass $5 trillion in annual revenue by the end of 2022. Although there are some concerns about whether they can sustain the current technological advancement rate, one thing is clear; there’s a huge demand for tech-trained workers as companies switch to modern technologies.