紐約時報頭條深度分析：蘋果為何不救美國

作者：爬山虎    文章發於：紐約時報    點擊數：976    更新時間：2012-1-27

翻譯工兵

發佈於2012年01月27日 01:16


How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work
美國如何錯失iPhone訂單



When Barack Obama joined Silicon Valley』s top luminaries for dinner in California last February, each guest was asked to come with a question for the president.

去年二月份，奧巴馬在加州與矽谷頂級名流會餐，出席嘉賓每人須向總統提一個問題。



But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted with an inquiry of his own: what would it take to make iPhones in the United States?

輪到蘋果老總喬布斯發言時，奧巴馬用自己的問題打斷他的話：如何才能讓蘋果在美國生產手機？



Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.

不久前，蘋果號稱其產品產自美國，如今，幾乎沒有。蘋果公司去年共售出七千萬台手機、三千萬台平板電腦及五千九百萬件其它產品，幾乎全部產自海外。



Why can』t that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.

奧巴馬問到，為什麼這些工作不能回到美國？



Mr. Jobs』s reply was unambiguous. 「Those jobs aren』t coming back,」 he said, according to another dinner guest.

據另一位在場嘉賓講，喬布斯直截了當地答到：＂這些工作不會回來了。＂



The president』s question touched upon a central conviction at Apple. It isn』t just that workers are cheaper abroad. Rather, Apple』s executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that 「Made in the U.S.A.」 is no longer a viable option for most Apple products.

總統的提問觸及蘋果的中心信念。不僅僅是海外員工更廉價，蘋果執行官們相信海外工廠的龐大規模及外國工人的靈活性、敬業精神及工業技能遠遠超過美國，以至於對大多數蘋果產品來說＂美國製造＂不再是一個可行的選項。



Apple has become one of the best-known, most admired and most imitated companies on earth, in part through an unrelenting mastery of global operations. Last year, it earned over $400,000 in profit per employee, more than Goldman Sachs, Exxon Mobil or Google.

蘋果已經成為地球上最著名、最受崇敬、最被他人模仿的公司之一，如此成就部分歸功於蘋果將全球運作發揮得淋漓盡致。去年，蘋果員工人均盈利四十萬美元，超過高盛、埃克森美孚和谷歌。



However, what has vexed Mr. Obama as well as economists and policy makers is that Apple — and many of its high-technology peers — are not nearly as avid in creating American jobs as other famous companies were in their heydays.

但最令奧巴馬、經濟學家、決策者及許多高科技同行沮喪的是：蘋果遠不如其它著名公司那樣熱衷於在它們的鼎盛時期創造美國工作。



Apple employs 43,000 people in the United States and 20,000 overseas, a small fraction of the over 400,000 American workers at General Motors in the 1950s, or the hundreds of thousands at General Electric in the 1980s. Many more people work for Apple』s contractors: an additional 700,000 people engineer, build and assemble iPads, iPhones and Apple』s other products. But almost none of them work in the United States. Instead, they work for foreign companies in Asia, Europe and elsewhere, at factories that almost every electronics designer relies upon to build their wares.

蘋果在美國雇傭四萬三千人，海外員工為兩萬，僅為通用汽車在上世紀五十年代四十萬美國職工的零頭，通用電氣在八十年代的美國僱員也高達數十萬。更多的人則為蘋果的供應商工作：約七十萬人設計、製造、組裝iPads、iPhones及其它蘋果產品。這些人幾乎都不在美國工作，而是受雇於位於亞洲、歐洲及其它地區的外國公司，幾乎每一個的電子工程師都依靠這些廠家生產產品。



「Apple』s an example of why it』s so hard to create middle-class jobs in the U.S. now. If it』s the pinnacle of capitalism, we should be worried. 」 said Jared Bernstein, who until last year was an economic adviser to the White House.

直到去年一直擔任白宮經濟顧問的Jared Bernstein表示：＂為什麼在美國創造中產階級職位這麼難，蘋果就是一個例子。如果這就是資本主義的巔峰，我們應當擔憂。＂



Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option. One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone』s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.

蘋果執行官稱在目前，走向海外是他們唯一的出路。一位前執行官描述了蘋果如何依靠一家中國公司在發售前僅僅數周對蘋果手機的生產進行調整。蘋果在最後一分鐘改變了手機屏幕的設計，生產線被迫全面調整。新屏幕於深夜陸續運抵廠房。



A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company』s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.

據這位前執行官介紹，一位工頭立刻在公司宿舍內喚醒八千名員工。每位員工派發一塊餅乾和一杯茶，分別指派到各個工作崗位，不到半小時就開始了給斜面框架安裝玻璃屏幕的長達12個小時的班次。96小時之內，這家工廠就以每日過萬台的速度生產手機。



「The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,」 the executive said. 「There』s no American plant that can match that.」

該執行官稱：＂這個速度和靈活性令人目瞪口呆，沒有美國工廠可與之匹敵。＂



Similar stories could be told about almost any electronics company — and outsourcing has also become common in hundreds of industries, including accounting, legal services, banking, auto manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

幾乎所有的電子公司都有類似的故事，＂外包＂在數百個行業已司空見慣，其中包括會計、法律服務、金融、汽車製造和製藥。



But while Apple is far from alone, it offers a window into why the success of some prominent companies has not translated into large numbers of domestic jobs. What』s more, the company』s decisions pose broader questions about what corporate America owes Americans as the global and national economies are increasingly intertwined.

蘋果雖不孤單，但它提供了探究如下問題的窗口：為什麼一些優勢企業的成功未能轉化成大量的國內工作崗位？此外，蘋果的決策還提出了一些更廣的問題，如在全球經濟與國內經濟日益融合的今天，美國企業對美國人有什麼責任？



「Companies once felt an obligation to support American workers, even when it wasn』t the best financial choice,」 said Betsey Stevenson, the chief economist at the Labor Department until last September. 「That』s disappeared. Profits and efficiency have trumped generosity.」

在去年九月前一直擔任勞工部首席經濟學家的Betsey Stevenson表示：＂公司過去感到有義務支持美國工人，即使這並非最佳經濟選擇。這些已經消失了，利潤與效率擊敗了慷慨大方。＂



Companies and other economists say that notion is naïve. Though Americans are among the most educated workers in the world, the nation has stopped training enough people in the mid-level skills that factories need, executives say.

公司們及其他經濟學家認為這一觀點太天真。執行官們說，儘管美國人是世界上受過最好教育的工人之一，但美國未能培訓出足夠多的為工廠所需的擁有中等技能的人員。



To thrive, companies argue they need to move work where it can generate enough profits to keep paying for innovation. Doing otherwise risks losing even more American jobs over time, as evidenced by the legions of once-proud domestic manufacturers — including G.M. and others — that have shrunk as nimble competitors have emerged.

公司們稱，為了發展，它們必須將工作搬移到能夠創造出足夠利潤以支付研發費用的地區。若非如此則面臨著今後流失更多美國工作的風險，這一點已被通用汽車等那些曾經豪邁的國內製造商所證實，隨著靈活競爭者的崛起，這些老公司已經收縮。



Apple was provided with extensive summaries of The New York Times』s reporting for this article, but the company, which has a reputation for secrecy, declined to comment.

紐約時報向蘋果提供了關於本篇報道的大量信息，但一如該公司的神秘名聲，蘋果未予置評。



This article is based on interviews with more than three dozen current and former Apple employees and contractors — many of whom requested anonymity to protect their jobs — as well as economists, manufacturing experts, international trade specialists, technology analysts, academic researchers, employees at Apple』s suppliers, competitors and corporate partners, and government officials.

本文基於對數十位蘋果現任或前任員工與承包商的採訪，許多受訪者要求對其身份進行保密以求不危及他們的工作。紐約時報還採訪了經濟學家、製造業專家、國際貿易專業人士、技術分析家、學者、蘋果供應商員工、競爭對手、公司夥伴及政府官員。



Privately, Apple executives say the world is now such a changed place that it is a mistake to measure a company』s contribution simply by tallying its employees — though they note that Apple employs more workers in the United States than ever before.

蘋果執行官們私下稱世界變化如此之大，難以用員工人數來衡量企業的貢獻，儘管他們同時也指出蘋果在美僱員比過去任何時候都多。



They say Apple』s success has benefited the economy by empowering entrepreneurs and creating jobs at companies like cellular providers and businesses shipping Apple products. And, ultimately, they say curing unemployment is not their job.

他們認為蘋果的成功通過如下方式造福經濟：加強手機運營商和產品運送公司，並在這些方面創造了就業機會。他們最終認為，減少失業率不是他們的責任。



「We sell iPhones in over a hundred countries,」 a current Apple executive said. 「We don』t have an obligation to solve America』s problems. Our only obligation is making the best product possible.」

蘋果一位現任執行官稱：＂我們在一百多個國家銷售手機，我們沒有義務解決美國的問題。我們唯一的責任就是生產出最好的產品。＂



『I Want a Glass Screen』

＂我想要個玻璃屏幕＂



In 2007, a little over a month before the iPhone was scheduled to appear in stores, Mr. Jobs beckoned a handful of lieutenants into an office. For weeks, he had been carrying a prototype of the device in his pocket.

2007年，在蘋果手機正式發售前一個月多一點，喬布斯將數名副手召入辦公室。此前幾周，他一直隨身攜帶著一款蘋果手機原型。



Mr. Jobs angrily held up his iPhone, angling it so everyone could see the dozens of tiny scratches marring its plastic screen, according to someone who attended the meeting. He then pulled his keys from his jeans.

據當時一位在場人講，喬布斯惱怒地舉起他的iPhone，不斷變動角度讓所有的人看清塑料屏幕上的數十道小划痕，接著，他從口袋裡掏出一串鑰匙。



People will carry this phone in their pocket, he said. People also carry their keys in their pocket. 「I won』t sell a product that gets scratched,」 he said tensely. The only solution was using unscratchable glass instead. 「I want a glass screen, and I want it perfect in six weeks.」

喬布斯說，人們會把手機裝在他們的口袋裡，他嚴肅地表示：＂我不會賣一隻會划花的產品。＂唯一的解決方案就是採用不會划花的玻璃屏。喬布斯說：＂我想要玻璃屏，在六個星期內給我搞定。＂



After one executive left that meeting, he booked a flight to Shenzhen, China. If Mr. Jobs wanted perfect, there was nowhere else to go.

一位執行官在離開辦公室之後，訂了一張飛往中國深圳的機票。如果喬布斯想要完美，除了深圳無路可走。



For over two years, the company had been working on a project — code-named Purple 2 — that presented the same questions at every turn: how do you completely reimagine the cellphone? And how do you design it at the highest quality — with an unscratchable screen, for instance — while also ensuring that millions can be manufactured quickly and inexpensively enough to earn a significant profit?

在長達兩年多的時間裡，蘋果一直忙於一個代號為＂紫二＂的項目，每行一步都會碰到同樣的問題：如何將手機的形象推倒重來？如何按照最高的質量標準進行設計——譬如不會划花的屏幕——同時確保數百萬台手機能夠快速地、利潤豐厚地製造出來？



The answers, almost every time, were found outside the United States. Though components differ between versions, all iPhones contain hundreds of parts, an estimated 90 percent of which are manufactured abroad. Advanced semiconductors have come from Germany and Taiwan, memory from Korea and Japan, display panels and circuitry from Korea and Taiwan, chipsets from Europe and rare metals from Africa and Asia. And all of it is put together in China.

幾乎毎一次，答案都在美國之外。儘管各個版本有所不同，但每台iPhone都包含著數百個零部件，其中約90%以上產自海外。先進的半導體來自德國和台灣，內存來自韓國和日本，顯示屏和電路板來自韓國和台灣，晶元來自歐洲，原材料來自非洲和亞洲，然後在中國組裝。



In its early days, Apple usually didn』t look beyond its own backyard for manufacturing solutions. A few years after Apple began building the Macintosh in 1983, for instance, Mr. Jobs bragged that it was 「a machine that is made in America.」 In 1990, while Mr. Jobs was running NeXT, which was eventually bought by Apple, the executive told a reporter that 「I』m as proud of the factory as I am of the computer.」 As late as 2002, top Apple executives occasionally drove two hours northeast of their headquarters to visit the company』s iMac plant in Elk Grove, Calif.

早年間，蘋果經常只在後院尋求製造解決方案。1983年，蘋果機開始投產，喬布斯自豪地宣稱＂這是一部產於美國的機器＂。1990年，喬布斯執掌NeXT電腦公司（后被蘋果收購）他告訴一名記者：＂就我為這台電腦感到驕傲那樣，我為這家工廠感到驕傲。＂直到2002年，蘋果高層還不時從總部往東北驅車兩小時視察公司位於加州Elk Grove的iMac生產基地。



But by 2004, Apple had largely turned to foreign manufacturing. Guiding that decision was Apple』s operations expert, Timothy D. Cook, who replaced Mr. Jobs as chief executive last August, six weeks before Mr. Jobs』s death. Most other American electronics companies had already gone abroad, and Apple, which at the time was struggling, felt it had to grasp every advantage.

到了2004年，蘋果已基本上轉向海外工廠。這一決定的倡導者是蘋果運營專家Timothy D. Cook，他在喬布斯去世前六個星期，即去年八月接替喬布斯成為蘋果首席執行官。大多數美國電子公司早已移師海外，在當時處於困境之中的蘋果感到它必須抓住任何一點優勢。



In part, Asia was attractive because the semiskilled workers there were cheaper. But that wasn』t driving Apple. For technology companies, the cost of labor is minimal compared with the expense of buying parts and managing supply chains that bring together components and services from hundreds of companies.

亞洲的吸引力部分地在於廉價的半熟練工人。但蘋果並不看重這一點，作為科技公司，勞工成本在購買零部件、整合來自數百個公司的零部件與服務的＂供應鏈管理＂等開銷面前顯得微不足道。



For Mr. Cook, the focus on Asia 「came down to two things,」 said one former high-ranking Apple executive. Factories in Asia 「can scale up and down faster」 and 「Asian supply chains have surpassed what』s in the U.S.」 The result is that 「we can』t compete at this point,」 the executive said.

據一名蘋果前任高管稱，對於Cook先生來說，聚焦亞洲歸根結底在於兩點：第一，亞洲工廠可以＂快速擴張或縮編＂；第二，＂亞洲供應鏈超過了美國＂。結果就是＂我們現在無法競爭＂。



The impact of such advantages became obvious as soon as Mr. Jobs demanded glass screens in 2007.

這一優勢的影響力在07年喬布斯要求玻璃屏時立即顯現。



For years, cellphone makers had avoided using glass because it required precision in cutting and grinding that was extremely difficult to achieve. Apple had already selected an American company, Corning Inc., to manufacture large panes of strengthened glass. But figuring out how to cut those panes into millions of iPhone screens required finding an empty cutting plant, hundreds of pieces of glass to use in experiments and an army of midlevel engineers. It would cost a fortune simply to prepare.

許多年來，手機製造商們盡量避免使用玻璃屏，因為它要求精確切割和打磨，非常難以實現。蘋果已選用美國公司Corning來生產大幅強化玻璃板。但要將這些玻璃板切割成數百萬片手機屏幕，需要找一家空置的切割工廠、數百片用於試驗的玻璃及一支中等水平的工程師大軍。光是準備工作就要花費巨資。



Then a bid for the work arrived from a Chinese factory.

此時，中國一家工廠前來投標。



When an Apple team visited, the Chinese plant』s owners were already constructing a new wing. 「This is in case you give us the contract,」 the manager said, according to a former Apple executive. The Chinese government had agreed to underwrite costs for numerous industries, and those subsidies had trickled down to the glass-cutting factory. It had a warehouse filled with glass samples available to Apple, free of charge. The owners made engineers available at almost no cost. They had built on-site dormitories so employees would be available 24 hours a day.

當一支蘋果團隊前來考察時，這家中國工廠的股東們已經在建設新的廠房。據一名前蘋果執行官稱，中國經理解釋道：＂這是為了萬一蘋果給我們訂單。＂中國政府已同意為多項產業提供成本補貼，這些補貼層層下撥至這家玻璃切割廠。向蘋果免費提供的玻璃樣品堆滿了一個倉庫，甚至連工程師都幾乎是免費服務。廠內建有宿舍，職工24小時待命。



The Chinese plant got the job.

中國工廠贏得了訂單。



「The entire supply chain is in China now,」 said another former high-ranking Apple executive. 「You need a thousand rubber gaskets? That』s the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away. You need that screw made a little bit different? It will take three hours.」

另一名前蘋果高管表示：＂現在所有的供應鏈都在中國了，需要一千片橡膠襯墊？隔壁工廠就有。需要一百萬枚螺絲釘？下一個街區就一家廠。想對螺釘做些改動？三個小時搞定。＂

In Foxconn City

富士康城內



An eight-hour drive from that glass factory is a complex, known informally as Foxconn City, where the iPhone is assembled. To Apple executives, Foxconn City was further evidence that China could deliver workers — and diligence — that outpaced their American counterparts.

離玻璃廠八小時車程的地方是被稱為＂富士康城＂的鎮落，蘋果手機在此生產。對於蘋果老總們來說，富士康是中國比美國更勤快、能提供更多勞工的進一步證明。



That』s because nothing like Foxconn City exists in the United States.

這是因為美國根本沒有富士康城這樣的東西。



The facility has 230,000 employees, many working six days a week, often spending up to 12 hours a day at the plant. Over a quarter of Foxconn』s work force lives in company barracks and many workers earn less than $17 a day. When one Apple executive arrived during a shift change, his car was stuck in a river of employees streaming past. 「The scale is unimaginable,」 he said.

畗士康城內擁有23萬員工，許多人一周上六天班，每天12小時。超過四分之一的員工住在公司宿舍，許多人一天所獲不足17美元。一位蘋果執行官到達富士康時正逢換班，他的車被堵在人流中，他說：＂難以想象的規模。＂



Foxconn employs nearly 300 guards to direct foot traffic so workers are not crushed in doorway bottlenecks. The facility』s central kitchen cooks an average of three tons of pork and 13 tons of rice a day. While factories are spotless, the air inside nearby teahouses is hazy with the smoke and stench of cigarettes.

富士康雇傭近300名保安指揮來往人流，以避免在樓道擁擠所發生擠踏。城內的中心廚房日均消耗三噸豬肉、十三噸大米。城內雖然整潔無睱，但附近茶館烏煙瘴氣，煙草味道直衝腦門。



Foxconn Technology has dozens of facilities in Asia and Eastern Europe, and in Mexico and Brazil, and it assembles an estimated 40 percent of the world』s consumer electronics for customers like Amazon, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Nintendo, Nokia, Samsung and Sony.

富士康在亞洲、東歐、墨西哥和巴西設有數十家工廠，組裝全球百分之四十的電子產品，客戶包括亞馬遜、戴爾、惠普、摩托羅拉、任天堂、尼康、三星和索尼。



「They could hire 3,000 people overnight,」 said Jennifer Rigoni, who was Apple』s worldwide supply demand manager until 2010, but declined to discuss specifics of her work. 「What U.S. plant can find 3,000 people overnight and convince them to live in dorms?」

直到2010年一直擔任蘋果全球供應經理的Jennifer Rigoni稱：＂他們可在一夜之間招聘三千人，美國有哪家工廠可以一夜招三千員工並說服他們搬進宿舍？＂



In mid-2007, after a month of experimentation, Apple』s engineers finally perfected a method for cutting strengthened glass so it could be used in the iPhone』s screen. The first truckloads of cut glass arrived at Foxconn City in the dead of night, according to the former Apple executive. That』s when managers woke thousands of workers, who crawled into their uniforms — white and black shirts for men, red for women — and quickly lined up to assemble, by hand, the phones. Within three months, Apple had sold one million iPhones. Since then, Foxconn has assembled over 200 million more.

2007年中，經過一個月的試驗，蘋果工程師們終於完善了為手機屏幕切割強化玻璃的工藝。據前蘋果執行官稱數車首批玻璃片於深夜運抵富士康，經理們喚醒數千員工，他們爬入公司制服——男的黑白襯衫、女的紅襯衫——然後迅速手工組裝手機。在三個月之內，蘋果已售出一百萬台手機。自那以後，富士康另組裝了超過二億部。



Foxconn, in statements, declined to speak about specific clients.

富士康在聲明中拒絕對具體客戶進行評論。



「Any worker recruited by our firm is covered by a clear contract outlining terms and conditions and by Chinese government law that protects their rights,」 the company wrote. Foxconn 「takes our responsibility to our employees very seriously and we work hard to give our more than one million employees a safe and positive environment.」

富士康在書面聲明中稱：＂所有受雇於本公司的員工均簽有列明工作條款與條件的勞動合同，並受中國法律保護。富士康高度重視公司對員工的責任，我們努力為百萬餘名員工創造一個安全與積極的工作環境。＂



The company disputed some details of the former Apple executive』s account, and wrote that a midnight shift, such as the one described, was impossible 「because we have strict regulations regarding the working hours of our employees based on their designated shifts, and every employee has computerized timecards that would bar them from working at any facility at a time outside of their approved shift.」 The company said that all shifts began at either 7 a.m. or 7 p.m., and that employees receive at least 12 hours』 notice of any schedule changes.

富士康否認前蘋果執行官的某些描述，書面指出上文提到的半夜倒班不可能發生，因為＂我們對員工的工作時間有著嚴格的管理，每個員工都有固定的班次並執有一張電腦卡，非正常上班時段不得進入廠區。＂富士康還稱所有的班次均在上午七點或下午七點開始，若有班次調整，員工應在12小時前得到通知。



Foxconn employees, in interviews, have challenged those assertions.

富士康員工在採訪中質疑公司的說法。



Another critical advantage for Apple was that China provided engineers at a scale the United States could not match. Apple』s executives had estimated that about 8,700 industrial engineers were needed to oversee and guide the 200,000 assembly-line workers eventually involved in manufacturing iPhones. The company』s analysts had forecast it would take as long as nine months to find that many qualified engineers in the United States.

對於蘋果來說，中國的另一個重大優勢是它能夠以美國不可企及的規模大量供應工程師。蘋果執行官們估計生產iPhone大約需要8700名產業工程師來監管與指導組裝線上的二十萬工人。蘋果分析師們預計在美國找到這麼多合格工程師約需9個月。



In China, it took 15 days.

而在中國，蘋果只花了15天。



Companies like Apple 「say the challenge in setting up U.S. plants is finding a technical work force,」 said Martin Schmidt, associate provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In particular, companies say they need engineers with more than high school, but not necessarily a bachelor』s degree. Americans at that skill level are hard to find, executives contend. 「They』re good jobs, but the country doesn』t have enough to feed the demand,」 Mr. Schmidt said.

麻省理工副校長Martin Schmidt認為：＂蘋果一類的公司稱在美國開設工廠所遇到的挑戰是難以找到技術性勞力大軍。＂這些公司需要介於高中學歷和學士學位之間的工程師，處在這個技術水平的美國人很少。Schmidt說：＂這些是好工作，但美國沒有足夠的人手。＂



Some aspects of the iPhone are uniquely American. The device』s software, for instance, and its innovative marketing campaigns were largely created in the United States. Apple recently built a $500 million data center in North Carolina. Crucial semiconductors inside the iPhone 4 and 4S are manufactured in an Austin, Tex., factory by Samsung, of South Korea.

蘋果手機的一些方面是美國獨有的。比如說手機軟體、創新性的巿場營銷等。蘋果最近在北卡羅來納州修建了價值5億美元的數據中心。iPhone4和4S內關鍵性的半導體產自位於德州奧斯汀的一家韓國三星廠。



But even those facilities are not enormous sources of jobs. Apple』s North Carolina center, for instance, has only 100 full-time employees. The Samsung plant has an estimated 2,400 workers.

但這些基地並不是大規模的就業機會來源。比方說蘋果數據中心僅雇傭了一百名全職員工。三星工廠約有二千四百名工人。



「If you scale up from selling one million phones to 30 million phones, you don』t really need more programmers,」 said Jean-Louis Gassée, who oversaw product development and marketing for Apple until he left in 1990. 「All these new companies — Facebook, Google, Twitter — benefit from this. They grow, but they don』t really need to hire much.」

在1990年前主管蘋果產品開發與巿場營銷的Jean-Louis Gassée表示：＂如果你將手機產量從一百萬台提高到三千萬台，你真的不需要增加程度員。臉譜、谷歌、推特等新公司因此獲利，它們在成長，但又不用招新人。＂



It is hard to estimate how much more it would cost to build iPhones in the United States. However, various academics and manufacturing analysts estimate that because labor is such a small part of technology manufacturing, paying American wages would add up to $65 to each iPhone』s expense. Since Apple』s profits are often hundreds of dollars per phone, building domestically, in theory, would still give the company a healthy reward.

很難說在美國生產蘋果手機會增加多少成本。但多個學者和製造業分析師估計，由於人工在科技製造業中所佔成本比例極低，以美國工資標準估算的話，每個iPhone至多增加65美元成本。因為蘋果在每台手機上的盈利達數百美元，所以在理論上講，蘋果如果在本土生產手機依然會獲利頗豐。



But such calculations are, in many respects, meaningless because building the iPhone in the United States would demand much more than hiring Americans — it would require transforming the national and global economies. Apple executives believe there simply aren』t enough American workers with the skills the company needs or factories with sufficient speed and flexibility. Other companies that work with Apple, like Corning, also say they must go abroad.

但在很多方面，這樣的估算毫無意義，因為在美國生產蘋果手機不僅僅需要美國員工，更要對全國、全球經濟進行改造。蘋果執行官們相信美國根本無法提供足夠多的擁有蘋果所需技能的工人，也沒有足夠快速高效的工廠。其它與蘋果合作的工廠，如Corning也說他們必須走向海外。



Manufacturing glass for the iPhone revived a Corning factory in Kentucky, and today, much of the glass in iPhones is still made there. After the iPhone became a success, Corning received a flood of orders from other companies hoping to imitate Apple』s designs. Its strengthened glass sales have grown to more than $700 million a year, and it has hired or continued employing about 1,000 Americans to support the emerging market.

為iPhone生產玻璃片重振了Corning位於肯塔基州的一家工廠，iPhone所需的大部分玻璃仍產自該廠。iPhone獲得成功之後，想模仿蘋果的廠商紛紛向Corning發出訂單。Corning的強化玻璃銷售額增至每年七億美元，該廠雇有一千名美國員工以支撐這一上升中的市場。



But as that market has expanded, the bulk of Corning』s strengthened glass manufacturing has occurred at plants in Japan and Taiwan.

但隨著市場的擴張，Corning的玻璃片很大一部分開始在日本和台灣生產。



「Our customers are in Taiwan, Korea, Japan and China,」 said James B. Flaws, Corning』s vice chairman and chief financial officer. 「We could make the glass here, and then ship it by boat, but that takes 35 days. Or, we could ship it by air, but that』s 10 times as expensive. So we build our glass factories next door to assembly factories, and those are overseas.」

Corning副總及首席財務官James B. Flaws表示：＂我們的客戶位於台灣、韓國、日本和中國。我們可以在美國生產玻璃片再用船運過去，但需要35天，如空運則要花十倍的運費。因此我們在客戶的隔壁開廠，這些都位於海外。＂



Corning was founded in America 161 years ago and its headquarters are still in upstate New York. Theoretically, the company could manufacture all its glass domestically. But it would 「require a total overhaul in how the industry is structured,」 Mr. Flaws said. 「The consumer electronics business has become an Asian business. As an American, I worry about that, but there』s nothing I can do to stop it. Asia has become what the U.S. was for the last 40 years.」

Corning於161年前成立於美國，其總部仍位於紐約州北部。理論上講，Corning可以在國內生產所有的玻璃，但Flaws先生稱：＂這需要重構整個產業，消費電子產業已成為亞洲產業，作為一個美國人我很擔心，但我無能為力，亞洲已成為在過去40年的美國。＂

Middle-Class Jobs Fade

中產階級工作消失



The first time Eric Saragoza stepped into Apple』s manufacturing plant in Elk Grove, Calif., he felt as if he were entering an engineering wonderland.

當Eric Saragoza首次步入蘋果位於加州Elk Grove的生產基地時，他感覺像是邁進了工程師樂園。



It was 1995, and the facility near Sacramento employed more than 1,500 workers. It was a kaleidoscope of robotic arms, conveyor belts ferrying circuit boards and, eventually, candy-colored iMacs in various stages of assembly. Mr. Saragoza, an engineer, quickly moved up the plant』s ranks and joined an elite diagnostic team. His salary climbed to $50,000. He and his wife had three children. They bought a home with a pool.

時為1995年，這一位於Sacramento附近的生產基地共雇傭1500多名員工，簡直是機器臂的萬花筒，傳送帶運送著電路板以及更個完工程度的花花綠綠的iMac。工程師Saragoza很快就在該廠得到晉陞並加入了處理疑難雜症的精英團隊。他的年薪提到了五萬美元，他有老婆和三個小孩，他們買了帶泳池的房子。



「It felt like, finally, school was paying off,」 he said. 「I knew the world needed people who can build things.」

Saragoza說：＂當時感覺這麼多年的學沒有白上，世上總需要能夠建造東西的人。＂



At the same time, however, the electronics industry was changing, and Apple — with products that were declining in popularity — was struggling to remake itself. One focus was improving manufacturing. A few years after Mr. Saragoza started his job, his bosses explained how the California plant stacked up against overseas factories: the cost, excluding the materials, of building a $1,500 computer in Elk Grove was $22 a machine. In Singapore, it was $6. In Taiwan, $4.85. Wages weren』t the major reason for the disparities. Rather it was costs like inventory and how long it took workers to finish a task.

但電子產業發生了變化，蘋果產品失勢，公司舉步維艱。當時的焦點之一就是改進位造過程。Saragoza先生工作幾年之後，他的老闆們跟他解釋加州廠與海外工廠的對比：在加州製造一台售價1500美元的電腦，除了材料之外的成本為22美元，在新加坡6美元，在台灣4.85美元。工資不是這些差距的主要原因，佔大頭的是倉儲備料與完工速度等。



「We were told we would have to do 12-hour days, and come in on Saturdays,」 Mr. Saragoza said. 「I had a family. I wanted to see my kids play soccer.」

Saragoza說：＂我們被告之一天上12小時班，周六也得加班。我已成家，我想看我的小孩踢足球。＂



Modernization has always caused some kinds of jobs to change or disappear. As the American economy transitioned from agriculture to manufacturing and then to other industries, farmers became steelworkers, and then salesmen and middle managers. These shifts have carried many economic benefits, and in general, with each progression, even unskilled workers received better wages and greater chances at upward mobility.

現代化總是導致一些工作變化或消失。當美國經濟從農耕到製造業再到其它產業轉移時，農民變成鋼鐵工人，再到銷售和中層管理。這些變動帶來了很多經濟利益，總體而言，在毎次變動中，即使是不熟練的工人也可獲得更好的報酬和更多向上攀登的機會。



But in the last two decades, something more fundamental has changed, economists say. Midwage jobs started disappearing. Particularly among Americans without college degrees, today』s new jobs are disproportionately in service occupations — at restaurants or call centers, or as hospital attendants or temporary workers — that offer fewer opportunities for reaching the middle class.

但據經濟學家介紹，過去二十年發生了一些根本性的變化。中等收入水平的工作開始消失。尤其是那些沒有大學學位的美國人，如今的新工作不成比例地集中在服務行業，如餐館、接線員、醫護或臨時工，這些職業很難讓人步入中產階級。



Even Mr. Saragoza, with his college degree, was vulnerable to these trends. First, some of Elk Grove』s routine tasks were sent overseas. Mr. Saragoza didn』t mind. Then the robotics that made Apple a futuristic playground allowed executives to replace workers with machines. Some diagnostic engineering went to Singapore. Middle managers who oversaw the plant』s inventory were laid off because, suddenly, a few people with Internet connections were all that were needed.

就算是擁有大學學位的Saragoza先生也受到這些趨勢的威脅。首先，Elk Grove基地的一些日常任務被發往海外，Saragoza不以為然。接著那些取代工人的讓蘋果成為未來樂園的機器人也送到海外，一些診斷專家也遠赴新加坡。曾經掌管倉儲的中層經理下崗，因為一夜之間，幾個能上網的人就夠用了。



Mr. Saragoza was too expensive for an unskilled position. He was also insufficiently credentialed for upper management. He was called into a small office in 2002 after a night shift, laid off and then escorted from the plant. He taught high school for a while, and then tried a return to technology. But Apple, which had helped anoint the region as 「Silicon Valley North,」 had by then converted much of the Elk Grove plant into an AppleCare call center, where new employees often earn $12 an hour.

對於低技能職位來說，Saragoza太昂貴了，但他的資歷又不足以進入上層管理。2002年，Saragoza剛下夜班就被叫入一間小辦公室，被告之下崗並護送出廠。他在高中教了一段時間的書，然後又想回到lT業。但曾經參與將該地區打造成＂矽谷＂的蘋果已經把Elk Grove基地的大部分改造成售後服務電話中心，新招接線員時薪12美元。



There were employment prospects in Silicon Valley, but none of them panned out. 「What they really want are 30-year-olds without children,」 said Mr. Saragoza, who today is 48, and whose family now includes five of his own.

在矽谷里也有些工作機會，但最終均未成功，現年48歲的Saragoza說：＂他們真正想要的是那些30多歲而且沒有小孩的。＂Saragoza家裡有五個小孩。



After a few months of looking for work, he started feeling desperate. Even teaching jobs had dried up. So he took a position with an electronics temp agency that had been hired by Apple to check returned iPhones and iPads before they were sent back to customers. Every day, Mr. Saragoza would drive to the building where he had once worked as an engineer, and for $10 an hour with no benefits, wipe thousands of glass screens and test audio ports by plugging in headphones.

在找了幾個月工作之後，Saragoza開始慌了，連教書的工作也消失了。後來他在一家臨時工中介那找到一份工，專為蘋果修理用戶退回的iPhones和iPads。每一天，Saragoza開車到幾年前曾經擔任工程師的地方，為了每小時十塊錢（無福利）的工錢，擦拭數千個玻璃屏，不停地摘插耳機以檢測聲音介面。

Paydays for Apple

蘋果發財之日

As Apple』s overseas operations and sales have expanded, its top employees have thrived. Last fiscal year, Apple』s revenue topped $108 billion, a sum larger than the combined state budgets of Michigan, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Since 2005, when the company』s stock split, share prices have risen from about $45 to more than $427.

隨著蘋果海外運作和銷售的擴張，高層僱員的日子越發滋潤。上個財政年度，蘋果銷售額超過1080億美元，比密歇根、新澤西、麻省三州的預算之和還高。自公司2005年拆股以來，蘋果股價從45美元飆升至427美元。



Some of that wealth has gone to shareholders. Apple is among the most widely held stocks, and the rising share price has benefited millions of individual investors, 401(k)』s and pension plans. The bounty has also enriched Apple workers. Last fiscal year, in addition to their salaries, Apple』s employees and directors received stock worth $2 billion and exercised or vested stock and options worth an added $1.4 billion.

這些財富的一部分流入了股東的腰包。蘋果是世界上最為廣泛持有的股票，不斷攀升的股價讓數百萬個人股東、養老基金、退休基金獲利。收益也肥了蘋果員工。在上個財年，蘋果員工和董事除工資外還獲得了價值20億美元的股票，另外行使價值14億美元股票期權。



The biggest rewards, however, have often gone to Apple』s top employees. Mr. Cook, Apple』s chief, last year received stock grants — which vest over a 10-year period — that, at today』s share price, would be worth $427 million, and his salary was raised to $1.4 million. In 2010, Mr. Cook』s compensation package was valued at $59 million, according to Apple』s security filings.

最大的回報則落入蘋果最高層的囊中，比如蘋果老總Cook先生去年獲得的股票期權（十年期）以今天的股價計高達4億2千7百萬美元，工資則提高到一百四十萬美元。據蘋果的證券資料，Cook先生去年的補償計劃高達5千9百萬美元。



A person close to Apple argued that the compensation received by Apple』s employees was fair, in part because the company had brought so much value to the nation and world. As the company has grown, it has expanded its domestic work force, including manufacturing jobs. Last year, Apple』s American work force grew by 8,000 people.

一位接近蘋果的人士認為蘋果員工所獲補償是公平的，部分地由於蘋果給美國和整個世界創造了大量財富。隨著蘋果成長，它擴展了國內就業，包括製造業工作。去年，蘋果的美國僱員增長了八千人。



While other companies have sent call centers abroad, Apple has kept its centers in the United States. One source estimated that sales of Apple』s products have caused other companies to hire tens of thousands of Americans. FedEx and United Parcel Service, for instance, both say they have created American jobs because of the volume of Apple』s shipments, though neither would provide specific figures without permission from Apple, which the company declined to provide.

當其它公司將電話中心移到海外，蘋果仍然將其電話中心保留在國內。一名消息人士估計蘋果的銷售讓其它公司得以擴招數以萬計的美國員工。比方說，聯盟快遞和UPS等均表示，因為蘋果的貨流量公司在美國招新。至於具體數字由於沒有蘋果授權不便透露。



「We shouldn』t be criticized for using Chinese workers,」 a current Apple executive said. 「The U.S. has stopped producing people with the skills we need.」

一位現任蘋果執行官表示：＂不要怪我們使用中國工人，美國已停止供應我們所需的員工。＂



What』s more, Apple sources say the company has created plenty of good American jobs inside its retail stores and among entrepreneurs selling iPhone and iPad applications.

此外，蘋果消息來源還稱蘋果產品為零售店和應用軟體廠商創造了不少好工作。



After two months of testing iPads, Mr. Saragoza quit. The pay was so low that he was better off, he figured, spending those hours applying for other jobs. On a recent October evening, while Mr. Saragoza sat at his MacBook and submitted another round of résumés online, halfway around the world a woman arrived at her office. The worker, Lina Lin, is a project manager in Shenzhen, China, at PCH International, which contracts with Apple and other electronics companies to coordinate production of accessories, like the cases that protect the iPad』s glass screens. She is not an Apple employee. But Mrs. Lin is integral to Apple』s ability to deliver its products.

在檢測iPad兩個月之後，Saragoza辭職了，工資實在太低，還不如花點時間找其它工作。十月的一個夜晚，Saragoza用他的蘋果電腦在網上發簡歷，地球的另一邊，一名女子正步入她的辦公室。林女士是中國深圳一家蘋果配件生產管理商的項目經理。她不是蘋果僱員，但她對蘋果的供貨能力起到不可或缺的作用。



Mrs. Lin earns a bit less than what Mr. Saragoza was paid by Apple. She speaks fluent English, learned from watching television and in a Chinese university. She and her husband put a quarter of their salaries in the bank every month. They live in a 1,080-square-foot apartment, which they share with their in-laws and son.

林女士的薪水比Saragoza原先在蘋果的工資稍低，她能說流利的英語，在中國一家大學學的再加上看電視。她和她的丈夫毎月將工資的四分之一存銀行，帶上兒子及親友住在一個面積一百平米的公寓。



「There are lots of jobs,」 Mrs. Lin said. 「Especially in Shenzhen.」

林女士說：＂工作很多，尤其在深圳。＂

Innovation』s Losers

創新中的失敗者

Toward the end of Mr. Obama』s dinner last year with Mr. Jobs and other Silicon Valley executives, as everyone stood to leave, a crowd of photo seekers formed around the president. A slightly smaller scrum gathered around Mr. Jobs. Rumors had spread that his illness had worsened, and some hoped for a photograph with him, perhaps for the last time.

和奧巴馬的晩餐接近尾聲，人們開始起身離場，一群人擠在總統身邊要求合影。而稍少的一群人圍在喬布斯身旁，關於他病重的傳言四起，一些人希望能與他合影，也許這是最後一次。



Eventually, the orbits of the men overlapped. 「I』m not worried about the country』s long-term future,」 Mr. Jobs told Mr. Obama, according to one observer. 「This country is insanely great. What I』m worried about is that we don』t talk enough about solutions.」

最終，兩群人交織在一起。喬布斯對奧巴馬說：＂我不擔心美國的長遠未來，這個國家極其偉大。我所擔心的是我們對解決方案討論不足。＂



At dinner, for instance, the executives had suggested that the government should reform visa programs to help companies hire foreign engineers. Some had urged the president to give companies a 「tax holiday」 so they could bring back overseas profits which, they argued, would be used to create work. Mr. Jobs even suggested it might be possible, someday, to locate some of Apple』s skilled manufacturing in the United States if the government helped train more American engineers.

在宴會上，一些執行官建議總統改革簽證系統，讓公司更方便地雇傭外國工程師。有些促請總統給予公司們一個＂稅收假日＂，讓它們能夠收回海外利潤以創造本土工作。喬布斯甚至暗示如果政府幫助培養美國工程師，蘋果有可能將部分精加工搬回美國。



Economists debate the usefulness of those and other efforts, and note that a struggling economy is sometimes transformed by unexpected developments. The last time analysts wrung their hands about prolonged American unemployment, for instance, in the early 1980s, the Internet hardly existed. Few at the time would have guessed that a degree in graphic design was rapidly becoming a smart bet, while studying telephone repair a dead end.

經濟學家們對這些及其它措施的用處進行了辯論，並提出掙扎中的經濟有時會因意料之外的事件而發生改變。比方說，上一回分析師們為美國失業率長期高居不下而糾心時是在上世紀八十年代初，當時網際網路幾乎還不存在。當時的人們少有能想見學習圖像設計會吃香而修理電話行將走向末路。



What remains unknown, however, is whether the United States will be able to leverage tomorrow』s innovations into millions of jobs.

然而尚不清楚美國是否能將明天的創新轉化成數百萬計的工作。



In the last decade, technological leaps in solar and wind energy, semiconductor fabrication and display technologies have created thousands of jobs. But while many of those industries started in America, much of the employment has occurred abroad. Companies have closed major facilities in the United States to reopen in China. By way of explanation, executives say they are competing with Apple for shareholders. If they cannot rival Apple』s growth and profit margins, they won』t survive.

在過去十年，太陽能與風力發電技術、半導體製造、顯示技術等突飛猛進，創造了數千個就業機會。雖然很多這方面的產業源自美國，該領域的工作卻在海外開花結果。美國大規模生產基地關門，轉而在中國重新開張。執行官們解釋道，他們在與蘋果爭奪投資者。如果他們不能與蘋果的增速與利潤率相抗衡，他們將無法生存。



「New middle-class jobs will eventually emerge,」 said Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist. 「But will someone in his 40s have the skills for them? Or will he be bypassed for a new graduate and never find his way back into the middle class?」

哈佛經濟學家Lawrence Katz說：＂新的中產階級工作最終會出現，但到時40多歲的人是否能夠勝任？或者一整代人被直接跨過，從此與中產無緣？＂



The pace of innovation, say executives from a variety of industries, has been quickened by businessmen like Mr. Jobs. G.M. went as long as half a decade between major automobile redesigns. Apple, by comparison, has released five iPhones in four years, doubling the devices』 speed and memory while dropping the price that some consumers pay.

多個產業的執行官認為喬布斯一類的商人加快了創新速度。通用汽車曾經五六年才對車輛設計進行大改。相比之下，蘋果在四年內推出了五款手機，在降低售價的同時將速度和內存提高了兩倍。



Before Mr. Obama and Mr. Jobs said goodbye, the Apple executive pulled an iPhone from his pocket to show off a new application — a driving game — with incredibly detailed graphics. The device reflected the soft glow of the room』s lights. The other executives, whose combined worth exceeded $69 billion, jostled for position to glance over his shoulder. The game, everyone agreed, was wonderful.

在奧巴馬和喬布斯作別前，這位蘋果老總從口袋裡掏出iPhone以炫耀一個新應用軟體，一個畫面細節驚人的駕車遊戲。手機反射著大廳內緩和的光。身價總和超過690億美元的其他老總們爭搶觀賞最佳位置。眾人交口稱讚，遊戲果然神奇。