No one in the airline industry comes close to Virgin America Inc. on a measurement of efficiency called revenue per employee. That\u2019s because baggage delivery, heavy maintenance, reservations, catering and many other jobs aren\u2019t done by employees. Virgin America uses contractors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will outsource every job that we can that is not customer-facing,\u201d\u009d David Cush, the airline\u2019s chief executive, told investors last March. In April, he helped sell Virgin America to Alaska Air Group Inc. for $2.6 billion, more than double its value in late 2014. He left when the takeover was completed in December.<\/p>\n
Never before have American companies tried so hard to employ so few people. The outsourcing wave that moved apparel-making jobs to China and call-center operations to India is now just as likely to happen inside companies across the U.S. and in almost every industry.<\/p>\n