Roger Fingas
For some workers, Apple Stores don't pay that well, don't leave much room for advancement, and sometimes produce an extremely difficult climate to work in, according to an interview with a U.K. staffer published on Saturday.
Staff at the company's U.K. stores, at least, have been hindered by policies preventing part-time people from going full-time, or advancing into management positions, the staffer told Business Insider, preferring to stay anonymous because Apple might pursue legal measures. The company makes retail workers sign a confidentiality agreement preventing many job details from becoming public.
"We had between five and eight store managers during my time at the store, of varying kinds," the person said. "Only one of them had started at Apple, the rest had been recruited from elsewhere — from, say, Dixons or HMV."
The company reportedly tried to improve the situation with a "Lead and Learn" program, offering hands-on experience in manager duties, but over the course of several years no one was actually promoted at the staffer's store.
Base pay at a U.K. Apple Store is said to be about £8 ($11.70) an hour, without any sales bonuses, meaning that many workers can't afford the devices they're selling or will go into debt to do so. While there are job positions that can generate higher pay, such as being a Genius Bar technician, the staffer commented that many of their colleagues hated being a Genius because it involved dealing with angry customers, some of whom would make death threats.
Apple Stores are moreover said to feel like a "cult" because of the worship of the company's products and leaders like Steve Jobs, plus policies like "Fearless Feedback," in which workers give very specific positive or negative feedback to their peers at least once per day.
The latter is often said to come into play for things Apple wants pushed on customers, like AppleCare warranties or in-store carrier sign-ups, even if they're irrelevant to the individual people clerks are dealing with. A clerk selling someone a Mac, for example, might later be chastised by a manager for not telling the customer about carrier sign-ups for iPhones.
Clerks are also expected to develop "personalized" connections with each customer, something the staffer complained can waste time for all involved and actually make it more difficult for customers to get help.
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63 Comments
I wouldn't want to work at the Genius Bar either. Some Apple customers are elitist jerks that have no respect for anyone. Life is too short to deal with that daily nonsense.
I have only good comments for the Apple staff. I've shopped in Apple stores in various UK, UK and Australian cities and they've always been helpful. I usually know what I want but on my last visit whilst out of country on business I needed to replace a bricked iPad (motherboard failure) which was out of warranty (my kid's iPad) & they offered me a refurbed at a great price. I replaced a MacbookPro power supply which was 3 years old and had just died on the road (my spare was at home) and the sales person showed me some neat features on the iPadPro absolutely relevant to my business when I made an enquiry . No company is perfect, but I've never seen any signs of disrespect at a Genius Bar and if someone is being obnoxious I'd expect the management to back up the staff and kick the customer out.
This was a filthy, unprofessional, agenda-driven interview by Business Insider. A sampling of the Qs posed, meant to shit on Apple and elicit negative responses. In 90% of the cases, the interviewee didn't bite. I've never, ever seen a less professional interview with so little journalistic integrity and contempt for objectivity. He actually disagrees with and argues with the interviewee whenever he says something positive about the working environment or Apple, and tries to swing things back to negativity.
BI: So why is Apple not promoting these people?
BI: I struggle to understand why Apple wouldn’t promote from within.
BI: How do the staff internally talk about that? The retail staff can’t afford the products.
BI: But it’s still the case that the majority of the people working at the store simply cannot afford the products on a regular basis.
BI: Do staff talk about how ridiculous it is to work for Apple and not be able to buy anything?
BI: Do Apple employees regard this as political in any way? Because this is how inequality works. You’re selling devices worth thousands every day and you’re not being paid enough to live in a one-room flat near the store.
BI: £8 an hour — that is sad.
BI: Is it like a cult?
BI: There’s almost a Thought Police aspect to it.
BI: At Business Insider we give feedback to people, but we don’t have a ritual where I’m forced to give positive and negative feedback to every single employee every single day. That would be insane.
BI: Wow, it’s like Maoist China where you sit in a circle and critique your comrades.
BI: So let me just show you this massive, beautiful phone, a Samsung Galaxy Note 5, in ivory gold, with a stylus. You don’t look at this and go, “Wow, if only Apple could design a phone like that”?
BI: So you’re being paid £7 an hour, and a customer comes in looking for, say, a cable, and you’ve upsold them into a sale over £100,000. And there was no bonus or recognition for this whatsoever?
Case closed. This interview was nothing but a hit job meant to generate a few clickbait quotes.
I've been to dozens of Apple stories, in many cities and countries. If employees are truly unhappy, they do a hell of a job hiding it, since they almost always have the best attitude and the most enthusiasm and helpfulness I ever experience in ANY store.
Well, they could go "work" at the Microsoft store and be bored to tears. :)