Information Services in the U.S. Economy: Value, Jobs, and Management Implications

It is well known that almost all of the largest economies in the world are already dominated by services. What may be less well known is that many are also evolving towards becoming information economies in the sense of both value added (GNP) and jobs. While this evolution is less advanced in some countries, the U.S. is already well past the 60% mark in terms of economic value added. This article explores the confluence of these two trends by examining the double dichotomy of products versus services and information versus material (non-information) outputs, thus dividing the economy into four super-sectors. The data reveal that the U.S. job market is dominated by information work and that the largest part of the U.S. economy in terms of GNP value added is the "information services" super-sector. The largest job share in terms of the number of jobs is in the "material or non-information" jobs in services, but the largest share of the wage bill is in information-related jobs in services. This article discusses the reasons behind these trends, identifies major differences between information and non-information sectors, and examines the implications for management strategy in the information economy.