1. mikelcal's Avatar
    Just saw this article in the new york times earlier today.

    It seems like they are being now criticized for paying workers in the retail stores too little. If this trend of negative press continues, it seems like Apple will finally start to lose traction and fall off its pedestal. That's where Android will swoop in for the kill and pick up the broken pieces opening the doors for BB10 to move on up. With so much cash filling the pockets of Tim Cook, and them reporting so much cash on hand you'd expect Apple recognizing their sales force and do a little better than $11 an hour. Even with the $2 raise, it wasn't until after the media began to ask questions that they did something about it.

    RIM on the other hand is giving away devices left and right out of goodwill. They recently reached out to a man to replace his phone for free! Maybe if RIM were more cut-throat about its sales, they would have lots of money to spare...

    After all, it is all about the benjamins, right?

    http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/06/24...ort-on-pay.xml

    By DAVID SEGAL
    Published: June 24, 2012
    Last year, during his best three-month stretch, Jordan Golson sold about $750,000 worth of computers and gadgets at the Apple Store in Salem, N.H. It was a performance that might have called for a bottle of Champagne - if that were a luxury Mr. Golson could have afforded.

    "I was earning $11.25 an hour," he said. "Part of me was thinking, 'This is great. I'm an Apple fan, the store is doing really well.' But when you look at the amount of money the company is making and then you look at your paycheck, it's kind of tough."

    America's love affair with the smartphone has helped create tens of thousands of jobs at places like Best Buy and Verizon Wireless and will this year pump billions into the economy.

    Within this world, the Apple Store is the undisputed king, a retail phenomenon renowned for impeccable design, deft service and spectacular revenues. Last year, the company's 327 global stores took in more money per square foot than any other United States retailer - wireless or otherwise - and almost double that of Tiffany, which was No. 2 on the list, according to the research firm RetailSails.

    Worldwide, its stores sold $16 billion in merchandise.

    But most of Apple's employees enjoyed little of that wealth. While consumers tend to think of Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., as the company's heart and soul, a majority of its workers in the United States are not engineers or executives with hefty salaries and bonuses but rather hourly wage earners selling iPhones and MacBooks.

    About 30,000 of the 43,000 Apple employees in this country work in Apple Stores, as members of the service economy, and many of them earn about $25,000 a year. They work inside the world's fastest growing industry, for the most valuable company, run by one of the country's most richly compensated chief executives, Tim Cook. Last year, he received stock grants, which vest over a 10-year period, that at today's share price would be worth more than $570 million.

    And though Apple is unparalleled as a retailer, when it comes to its lowliest workers, the company is a reflection of the technology industry as a whole.



    "It's interesting to ask why we find it offensive that Wal-Mart pays a single mother $9 an hour, but we don't find it offensive that Apple pays a young man $12 an hour," Mr. Osterman said. "For each company, the logic is the same - there is a line of people eager to take the job. In effect, we're saying that our value judgments depend on the circumstances of the employee, not just supply and demand of the labor market."

    Twenty-two-year-olds also tend to be more tolerant of the Apple Store's noise and bustle, yet these days some former employees describe a work environment that was too hectic and stressful, thanks in large part to the runaway popularity of the iPhone and iPad.

    Managers often tell new workers that they hope to get six years of service, former employees say. "That was what we heard all the time," says Shane Garcia, a former Apple Store manager in Chicago. "Six years." But the average tenure is two and a half years, says a person familiar with the company's retention numbers, and as foot traffic has increased, turnover rates in many stores have increased, too. Internal surveys at stores have also found surprising dissatisfaction levels, particularly among technicians, or "geniuses" in Apple's parlance, who work at what is called the Genius Bar. Apple declined requests for interviews for this article. Instead, the company issued a statement:

    "Thousands of incredibly talented professionals work behind the Genius Bar and deliver the best customer service in the world. The annual retention rate for Geniuses is almost 90%, which is unheard-of in the retail industry, and shows how passionate they are about their customers and their careers at Apple."
    Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk
    06-24-12 09:02 PM
  2. h20work's Avatar
    How many employees did apple lay off?
    06-24-12 09:09 PM
  3. BB10FTW's Avatar
    I hate to say it but, this isn't going to do anything to Apple. Think about it, in China, Foxxconn workers were killing themselves and there were several explosions and well that did nothing to sway consumer interest and well the media didn't care even 1/8th as much as they care that RIM is "doomed". Investors are looking forward to their first dividend payout, they do not care about much else. Also in the USA a lot of people are getting paid garbage wages, it isn't something new. I am not an Apple fan but, this is hardly going to matter to anyone who isn't working at an Apple retail store. Sorry Mikelcal but, the giant won't be hurt with these tiny arrows.
    06-24-12 09:15 PM
  4. pilsbury's Avatar
    RIM on the other hand is giving away devices left and right out of goodwill. They recently reached out to a man to replace his phone for free! Maybe if RIM were more cut-throat about its sales, they would have lots of money to spare...

    Fixed it for you-



    Maybe if they had someone as adept at running a business as Steve Jobs was, if they produced viable, relevant devices, kept their promises of timely OS upgrades, maybe they would have lots of money to spare.
    06-24-12 09:48 PM
  5. Thunderbuck's Avatar
    It makes about as much sense to base assessments on individual news items in the media as it is to watch the stock price from minutes to minute.

    Give your blood pressure a rest and go do something mindless for awhile...
    06-24-12 09:52 PM
  6. LazyStarGazer's Avatar
    Apple is DOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMED!!!!!

    Lololol
    06-24-12 10:24 PM
  7. mikelcal's Avatar
    Just sayin...
    06-24-12 11:57 PM
  8. grover5's Avatar
    RIM on the other hand is giving away devices left and right out of goodwill. They recently reached out to a man to replace his phone for free! Maybe if RIM were more cut-throat about its sales, they would have lots of money to spare...

    Fixed it for you-



    Maybe if they had someone as adept at running a business as Steve Jobs was, if they produced viable, relevant devices, kept their promises of timely OS upgrades, maybe they would have lots of money to spare.
    I doubt this harms apple but why would you defend unequal profit distribution between workers and executives? Enjoy your device and all that stuff but this is a bigger picture and it goes well beyond apple but they are guilty of being the corporate pig. I think they have safely replaced walmart as the shining example of greed and manipulation...not an easy task.
    06-25-12 12:05 AM
  9. pilsbury's Avatar
    I doubt this harms apple but why would you defend unequal profit distribution between workers and executives? Enjoy your device and all that stuff but this is a bigger picture and it goes well beyond apple but they are guilty of being the corporate pig. I think they have safely replaced walmart as the shining example of greed and manipulation...not an easy task.

    So by your shining analogy, you're telling me that there is no disparage of salary between the hourly workers and executives at Research in Motion Inc? I'm pretty sure this exists in every profitable corporation.
    Crude Berry and jclif like this.
    06-25-12 04:18 AM
  10. jclif's Avatar
    Um, welcome to corporate America, where the rich get richer and the poor are just happy to have a job!!!
    pilsbury likes this.
    06-25-12 09:59 AM
  11. jclif's Avatar
    I doubt this harms apple but why would you defend unequal profit distribution between workers and executives? Enjoy your device and all that stuff but this is a bigger picture and it goes well beyond apple but they are guilty of being the corporate pig. I think they have safely replaced walmart as the shining example of greed and manipulation...not an easy task.
    You're right, shame on them for producing great products that people want and actually expect to make a profit. The employees don't have to work there if they don't want to, its a free country.
    pilsbury likes this.
    06-25-12 10:39 AM
  12. xandermac's Avatar
    If this trend of negative press continues, it seems like Apple will finally start to lose traction and fall off its pedestal.
    Yeauh..... Okay......
    06-25-12 10:51 AM
  13. kbz1960's Avatar
    I agree it's the same in all companies. The ones who do the work are paid the least. Do these workers get any bonuses or a profit sharing check at all?
    06-25-12 10:52 AM
  14. xandermac's Avatar
    I agree it's the same in all companies. The ones who do the work are paid the least. Do these workers get any bonuses or a profit sharing check at all?
    Benefits and stock options (If they can afford the options!!!!!).

    Everyone want's to make more money, thats a given, but I wouldn't want the media dictating how I run my business and I have to apply that to all companies. It's between Apple & the Employees and in all honesty there are 10's of thousands ready to step in if need be.
    kbz1960 likes this.
    06-25-12 11:25 AM
  15. kbz1960's Avatar
    Benefits and stock options (If they can afford the options!!!!!).

    Everyone want's to make more money, thats a given, but I wouldn't want the media dictating how I run my business and I have to apply that to all companies. It's between Apple & the Employees and in all honesty there are 10's of thousands ready to step in if need be.
    True. It's much harder these days to leave a job you don't like because there aren't many more jobs to get and that is why there are 10's of thousands waiting. Not like when I entered the workforce, if you didn't like the job you could have a different job the next day. Now even if you hate the job you better just keep at it or it could be years before you find another.
    06-25-12 11:36 AM
  16. southlander's Avatar
    Where I live if Apple built a store and offered people $12 per hour to work in a nice air conditioned store, folks would really want the jobs. $12/hr is not bad here for that type of thing.
    06-25-12 11:39 AM
  17. howarmat's Avatar
    my wife would take a $12/hr job right now. Beats not working at all
    06-25-12 11:49 AM
  18. southlander's Avatar
    my wife would take a $12/hr job right now. Beats not working at all
    Amen. Heck when I was a bit younger I would have loved to be paid to work in a nice store and have a job talking about cutting edge tech all day. I used to work laying pipe in the hot a$$ sun for minimum wage. I appreciated that job though it was rough at times.
    06-25-12 11:53 AM
  19. grover5's Avatar
    So by your shining analogy, you're telling me that there is no disparage of salary between the hourly workers and executives at Research in Motion Inc? I'm pretty sure this exists in every profitable corporation.

    I never mentioned RIM. If they have similar equal pay inequality then that also sucks. The current inequality didn't always exist. It has gotten much worse. That was my point.

    Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk
    06-25-12 12:01 PM
  20. pri79269's Avatar
    Amen. Heck when I was a bit younger I would have loved to be paid to work in a nice store and have a job talking about cutting edge tech all day. I used to work laying pipe in the hot a$$ sun for minimum wage. I appreciated that job though it was rough at times.
    I'm glad I saw this. My son will be 16 soon and straight to the Apple Store we will go.
    06-25-12 12:04 PM
  21. mikelcal's Avatar
    At some level you must also think about how this type of job might be ageist on the grounds that they prefer to hire younger 20something year olds and expect to get at least 6 years of work from you. Thats a pretty big commitment, but at the same time, most don't even make it past 2 years. Please take the time and read the entire article... I did.
    06-25-12 09:57 PM
  22. pri79269's Avatar
    Please take the time and read the entire article... I did.
    Whelp I guess we'll be waiting a few more years. Thanks for reading the entire article and clarifying! ;-)
    mikelcal likes this.
    06-25-12 10:30 PM
  23. thebignewt's Avatar
    Yeah my first job was pumping gas in Phoenix one summer for $1.40/hour lol. Lovely.

    Loved the story in Time last week about Apple in China. In 2009 only 2% of Apple's sales were there. Last year it was 20%. Stuff sells for more there. The biggest cellphone company has 680,000,000 customers and Apple hasn't finished an agreement with them to use the iPhone. Yikes! There are tons of knockoff Apple stores selling iPhone/iPad knockoffs for half price. One store even sells Apple stoves. The 4 highest grossing Apple stores are there. There are only 6 total in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong.
    Last edited by thebignewt; 06-28-12 at 02:50 PM.
    06-28-12 02:48 PM
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