Washington: Web startups pose risk to job numbers on both sides of Atlantic.

• Author: Carr, Nicholas
• Position: KIOSQUE: Global highlights and local sidelights culled from the media - Brief article

In past centuries, Western technological revolutions created a lot more jobs than they destroyed, but that doesn't seem to be happening with computerization.... There's a new breed of Internet company on the loose: they grow like weeds, serve millions of customers a day and operate globally. And they have very, very few employees.

Look at YouTube, the video network. When it was bought by Google in 2006, for more than $1 billion, it was one of the most popular and fastest-growing sites on the Net, broadcasting more than 100 million clips a day. Yet it employed a grand total of 60 people. Compare that to a traditional TV network like CBS, which has more...