Public vs Private Sector - the world’s largest employers.

This is a nice graphic to show your students when discussing examples of different businesses in the public and private sector - using the world’s ten largest employers as an example.

Seven out of the ten biggest employers are in the public sector and hopefully your students won’t have too much difficulty in picking which three are in the private sector. And as many developed countries seek to lower unemployment levels during times of low growth and “austerity”, it would be an interesting discussion to have as to whether this hoped for job growth is likely to come from the public or private sector. You may like to ask your students about the advantages and disadvantages of future employment in the public and private sectors. Historically, public sector employment had the advantage of being far more immune to economic cycles although this seems to be changing as governments in some countries seek to slash budgets.

Chart is from the Economist online.