Each Nintendo employee is set to make more money for the company this year than the average Goldman Sachs employee did during its record-breaking 2007, the Financial Timesreports.

Nintendo employs less than 3,000 permanent staff, each of whom takes home an average annual salary of $90,900 a year. Assuming the platform holder achieves its net profit target of 410 billion yen ($3.9bn) in 2008, each employee will generate the company $1.6 million in profit, according to the paper’s calculations.
 
In comparison, the average Goldman Sach’s employee generated $1.24 million in profit for the firm before tax and pay in 2007, and received a $660,000 pay packet. The equivalent figure for Google is reportedly $626,000.

The report says that Nintendo is able to make so much money with so few staff because it relies on outsourcing for all hardware manufacturing and even a number of its high-profile games.

Nintendo said that the Financial Times’ figures may underestimate the company’s profitability.

http://www.edge-online.com/news/ft-each-nintendo-employee-generate-16m-annual-profit

Lock if old.

Nintendo have been on top of their game for the last 3 years.

Average annual salary of $90,900!!! Unless they are including cleaners in that 3000 employee figure that is a shockingly low average salary given that there would be some executives earning over $1million and therefore boosting up the average significantly. Seems Nintendo doesn't believe in rewarding those at the bottom.

I wonder if the "average" salary includes people working at call centers making less that $10 an hour, that would bring down the average from the execs who I guarantee make well over $1 million....

@tuoyo: The average salary for programmers, who make up the vast majority of their staff, is around $40-$50k.