16 Apple retail workers claim they’re ‘struggling to survive’ amid ‘untenable conditions’

Zoe Schiffer, The Verge‘s Norma Rae, this week reports on sixteen (16) Apple retail workers who claim they’re “struggling to survive” amid “untenable conditions.”

Zoe Schiffer for The Verge:

The Verge spoke with 16 current and former employees on Apple’s retail, support, and sales teams who say their complaints about working conditions and pay have largely been ignored. Some say they are governed more by algorithms and systems than actual managers, making it difficult to get holistic help. All of them note that while they came into the job believing in Apple’s mission, they see a profound breakdown in how the company’s corporate values translate to the frontlines.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple has 154,000 employees worldwide, the vast majority of whom work for Apple Retail Stores. This article is about the opinions of sixteen (16) Apple retail workers.

Apple’s retail employees make on average between $19 and $25 an hour in the United States, according to Glassdoor. That’s good for the retail industry, but can be grating for employees who want to build a career at the tech giant. Some say that after staying at the company for six years, they’re making less than $21 an hour.

MacDailyNews Take: You work in retail. You don’t become chief of software, or even their assistant’s assistant’s assistant for running a handheld cash register in a retail store, not matter how nice it is.
No, instead, you go to school, for years, learn all you can, work hard to demonstrate exceptional competency and then, if you’re lucky, you earn yourself a non-retail job at Apple.
Apple Store employees make above-average pay for retail employees and are offered benefits including 401(k) plans, product discounts, and reduced price on stock. The retention rate for the technicians who staff the Genius Bar is more than 90%.

Employees spent eight hours a day fielding inquiries from angry customers. They were evaluated based on call time and customer satisfaction. As with many hourly roles at Apple, people with high scores knew they’d eventually get better schedules, promotions, and opportunities. People with low scores could be placed on action plans to try to improve.

MacDailyNews Take: Were all of the customers really “angry?” 100% of them? Were some not just amenable while looking for a solution to their questions? Of course, they were.
And, yes, amazingly, Apple has a methodology in place to identify good employees and reward them while also working to improve employees who routinely fail to perform their jobs adequately. Instead of firing bad employees, Apple actually works with them in an effort to improve their performance. The horror!

Employees also saw a disparity in Apple’s financial success — reflected in the wealth of its executives — and their own financial pricarity. In 2015, Tim Cook announced that he planned to give away his $800 million fortune before he died. “When I saw Tim Cook was saying he’s worth nearly a billion dollars and he plans to give all of that away before he dies, I thought, ‘Well shit, he could start with us in AppleCare,’” a current employee says.

MacDailyNews Take: This is what happens when you give every kid a trophy for participating. They feel entitled to things they did not earn.
You know who’s really “struggling to survive” amid “untenable conditions?” Uyghurs in China, for one of myriad unfortunate examples, not Apple Retail Store staffers.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!

The post 16 Apple retail workers claim they’re ‘struggling to survive’ amid ‘untenable conditions’ appeared first on MacDailyNews.