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Apple Increases Work Scheduling Commitments for Retail Store Employees
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I have thought about it. And come to the very logical conclusion that some people act like Apple should hire all the unemployed people in the country and fix the issue. Just like they should give iPads and free textbooks to every school. Just like they should give all their cash away to charity etc. Fix all the problems everywhere.
But it's not Apple's problem. It's everyone's. And everyone needs to be called on to fix it. It's like the whole Foxconn thing. Every site, paper, blog etc is screaming about "Apple's factories" but ignoring that Apple is one of around 75 clients of Foxconn. The other 74 are getting to do whatever they want, how they want with no attention from anyone. Apple is expected to fix China's lousy labor conditions all by itself.
Wirelessly posted
People should not take customer service jobs and expect to not work when the customers are there.
pvmacguy said:
Guess you've never heard of hipsters before....
Side note, it's best for companies not to alienate their current employees by making ridicules shifts or non-flexable schedules it leads to poor morale and high employee churn.
People should not take customer service jobs and expect to not work when the customers are there.
yuor conclusion is logical, and Im not requesting Apple fix all the problems of the world..just saying that they are not untouchable in this climate..they might be sitting on reserves of cash, but if the world crashes financially, it will affect them..they are a part of this world...
Most of the good geniuses left a while ago when they switched to overnight repair shifts.
The only employees left that are truly Apple Professional material are the holdouts who aren't motivated to go elsewhere or young people who haven't learned that it's a retail job yet.
The only employees left that are truly Apple Professional material are the holdouts who aren't motivated to go elsewhere or young people who haven't learned that it's a retail job yet.
There is always the phone. I have bought both of my last 2 iMacs on the phone to Apple. Each time it was a 4-5 minute call I made the purchase, they just asked me do you want Apple care, how are you paying for it. And that's it. Very easy.
And I applied for a job and have heard nothing back.
And they could pay me in hardware! (well, and software)
No, I went to the Apple employment site and filled out an online application. I did get a bounce from their server after submission, but nothing since. Guess I'm not weird and egotistical enough?
Maybe if I got a few tattoos and some piercings... (Just kidding Tim)----------
And holidays too...
It may not be too difficult for you, but it is difficult for me.
I work over 3 days and start early at 6am. I don't have a proper sleep pattern and often feel tired during the evening making it hard to get much done for the rest of the day. Have been like his for almost 4 years now. As a law student we have ridiculous amounts of reading to do and need to dedicate a huge number of hours per week per module. That in itself is very demanding. I guess it all depends on your circumstances.
I hear most of what you are saying. I come from a once GM employee town. Union all the way stud... Then I worked at the local community college and found out that the majority of the people they hire are functionally illiterate and have to take remedial classes on reading English, writing (as in penmanship) and remedial math (starting with 1+1 is) just to get them up to speed to work there.
The management that I came into contact with were very frustrated that they couldn't get people straight from high school that were 'ready-to-go' and didn't need to be re-taught what they should have gotten earlier. There was a lot of animosity over how stupid the average worker was.
I found it ironic that GM uses every trick and tactic to save on their taxes and 'starve the beast' they can, and then bitches about the quality of the product that their taxes would have supported, if they paid them. IF teachers and EDUCATION were valued higher than they are now, and the system didn't drop students from grade to grade the way peristalsis moves a turd through your intestines, then it would produce a higher quality of worker. Which would probably mean fewer Fox 'news' watchers, better informed shoppers not buying crap food and products, and people seeing through the political smoke screens to a laser sharp precision too. I can see why it is important in 'the land of the free' to keep people stupid and not give them too much of an education, however, it is to ALL of our detriment that this is happening.
Hell, Texas and many 'red states' have cut their education budgets so far that there probably isn't much else to cut except to sell the whole thing for real estate for more strip malls.
Apple alone can't 'fix' what the politicians seem hell bent on making worse. But someone, or some corporation, has to stand up and tell it like it is.
America is failing itself. It needs a reboot, and not this tea poisoned corporate lobbyist written and supported BS.
America has attacked two countries (and more) and cut taxes at the same time, never in history has that been done, and more stuff has been put directly on the national debt.
We are dealing with a populous that is generally incredibly stupid (ignorant if you want to be kind) and getting Apple to hire everybody out of work isn't going to fix the structural deficiencies that are killing this country.
/soap-box
Ahem, you mean "if everyone *were* a rocket scientist..." (its called subjunctive, look into it).
Also, you're wrong. If you want good people then you need to pay good money. Good people go where the money is. If flipping burgers paid six figures a year (and rocket science paid minimum wage) then we would have geniuses finding new ways to flip burgers and idiots designing rockets (no satellites, no space flights).
The first step to increasing profit margins is increasing the hours worked. The step after that would be moving the majority of employees to part time to remove benifits. The following step would be cutting back on employees per store. Finally you start introducing flawed self check-out and even less employees per store.
*COUGH* Walmart *COUGH*
*COUGH* Walmart *COUGH*
As a current Apple Retail employee, I'd like to address some of the comments going on in this thread.
"Apple Retail employees have no technical knowledge!"
We are not hired to be robots. Customer service and social skills are valued over technical knowledge. That is not to say we don't have tech knowledge, I happen to be quite the geek myself. But the point is the HR department doesn't emphasize that as much as personality. Maybe the 1% of power users want to have a sales experience with an unfriendly, barely sociable hardcore nerd who can tell them the exact specs of every chip inside the machine, but the vast majority of customers don't. They want to find out what machine best suits their lifestyle from someone they can relate to.
And for those 1% by the way, that's WHY you're handed off. Because we want to serve 100% of the customers and if your questions do exceed our knowledge we find someone who has the answers.
"Working Apple Retail sucks because we're overworked!"
I doubt any of the people in this thread other than myself that have claimed to work at Apple actually have. It's just not true that we're overworked. For the part-timers, most of us want MORE hours, not less. I think the person who wrote this article that said something like "whatever drove them to apply for part-time in the first place" doesn't actually understand the Apple Retail process. Almost everyone is hired PT. Getting FT is more like a promotion rather than about availability. It's not like all the PT people want to be PT and are crying themselves to sleep because they had to work 24 hours instead of 20. Maybe a handful really want to stay PT, but most don't.
As for the full time people, they aren't overworked either. They work 40 hours, just like any other FT job. In fact, HR actually gets a bit pissed if you run over 40. You're not allowed to take OT unless the management approves it, which is rare. The only time I've ever worked OT (and true for most employees) is during a launch. And as you all know, that's only once or twice per year.
In terms of the work itself making us "overworked", that's not the case either. Granted, it's busier than other retail. But if anything that makes the time go by faster. I think the reason people think it's so "horrific" is because our society has become accustomed to the idea that "work" is texting and surfing for 90% of your shift, and grudgingly helping customers the other 10%. That's not how it's supposed to be, and so no it's not the way it is at Apple. We get a 15 minute break for every 4 hours of work, a half-hour lunch for a 5.5-7.5 hour shift, and an hour lunch for an 8-9 hour shift. Spaced out evenly it's usually only about two hours of continuous work before you get a breather. And the managers are usually pretty good at making sure you get your breaks. If we're really busy and you go past your break time, they'll come find you and tell you to take it, even if there's a line.
"Apple Retail employees just stand around!"
We don't have chairs and for the most part don't have cash registers anymore, so yes, we stand around on the floor. That doesn't mean we won't help you. Just ask. We do our best to ask customers first if they need help, but sometimes that can get repetitive. No one wants to be asked by 10 people in a row "do you need help?". Besides, one of the biggest reasons you need help at other retail store is because the electronics are fake models. At Apple, you can experience the real products. Would you rather listen to one of us drone on about an iPad or play with one yourself?
Sure sometimes when it gets slow we socialize with each other. That happens in any workplace. Coworkers who like each other and know each other are more productive in my experience. But if you see us standing there talking about football, walk up and either join in, telling us about your team, or ask us if we can assist you. But don't just brood in the corner, then storm out, go home, and rage online.
"They put me in a queue!"
Most stores I go to (non-Apple, that is) have ropelines near checkout, where you stand and wait to pay for your merchandise. It get's pretty boring standing in a line. At Apple, we too get busy, but instead we have a virtual "line" called iQueue, that allows you to continue to walk around and browse while still retaining your place "in line". This is a feature of our stores, not a detractor. If we can help you instantly we will. If we can't, we ask you to wait just like any other business would, except you can do it without the confines of standing still in a physical line.
"Just give me one of those scanners and I'll check myself out!"
It's called EasyPay for customers, it's in the Apple Store App for iOS devices available on the App Store. Go download it and next time check yourself out.
"The customer IS always right, why do they argue with me?"
Specifically to Moduz's experience, we do our best to make sure our customers get what they need. The best way to do that is to get to know the customer. Now for a rare power-user like yourself, yes you want to be in and out. And maybe the employee should have gotten a better read that you were ready to go. We aren't perfect. Next time just politely say "I appreciate your advice but I'm sure this is the model I want and I'm ready to check out." 99% of Apple Employees will ring you up at that point, no questions asked.
Keep in mind though we do this to help. Not just to make sure you get the right computer, but for other reasons too. One, making you aware of everything we have to offer. Most electronics stores don't do training on their products right in the store. So customers don't expect it. But we do. So sometimes if we talk a bit you find out, "wow you guys do training right here in store? I didn't know that!"
"Your business model of no cash registers is all wrong!"
Well, our record-breaking profits would disagree with you. As would the vast majority of my customers who tell me that the ability of me to check them out with my EasyPay right then and there is really awesome and convenient.
"I don't like how busy Apple Stores are. I don't like their employee's attitude. I don't like their model. I don't like any of it."
They don't come? I've never understood internet trolls. Why complain repeatedly about a business but continue to shop there and visit rumor sites about their products?
"Apple Retail employees have no technical knowledge!"
We are not hired to be robots. Customer service and social skills are valued over technical knowledge. That is not to say we don't have tech knowledge, I happen to be quite the geek myself. But the point is the HR department doesn't emphasize that as much as personality. Maybe the 1% of power users want to have a sales experience with an unfriendly, barely sociable hardcore nerd who can tell them the exact specs of every chip inside the machine, but the vast majority of customers don't. They want to find out what machine best suits their lifestyle from someone they can relate to.
And for those 1% by the way, that's WHY you're handed off. Because we want to serve 100% of the customers and if your questions do exceed our knowledge we find someone who has the answers.
"Working Apple Retail sucks because we're overworked!"
I doubt any of the people in this thread other than myself that have claimed to work at Apple actually have. It's just not true that we're overworked. For the part-timers, most of us want MORE hours, not less. I think the person who wrote this article that said something like "whatever drove them to apply for part-time in the first place" doesn't actually understand the Apple Retail process. Almost everyone is hired PT. Getting FT is more like a promotion rather than about availability. It's not like all the PT people want to be PT and are crying themselves to sleep because they had to work 24 hours instead of 20. Maybe a handful really want to stay PT, but most don't.
As for the full time people, they aren't overworked either. They work 40 hours, just like any other FT job. In fact, HR actually gets a bit pissed if you run over 40. You're not allowed to take OT unless the management approves it, which is rare. The only time I've ever worked OT (and true for most employees) is during a launch. And as you all know, that's only once or twice per year.
In terms of the work itself making us "overworked", that's not the case either. Granted, it's busier than other retail. But if anything that makes the time go by faster. I think the reason people think it's so "horrific" is because our society has become accustomed to the idea that "work" is texting and surfing for 90% of your shift, and grudgingly helping customers the other 10%. That's not how it's supposed to be, and so no it's not the way it is at Apple. We get a 15 minute break for every 4 hours of work, a half-hour lunch for a 5.5-7.5 hour shift, and an hour lunch for an 8-9 hour shift. Spaced out evenly it's usually only about two hours of continuous work before you get a breather. And the managers are usually pretty good at making sure you get your breaks. If we're really busy and you go past your break time, they'll come find you and tell you to take it, even if there's a line.
"Apple Retail employees just stand around!"
We don't have chairs and for the most part don't have cash registers anymore, so yes, we stand around on the floor. That doesn't mean we won't help you. Just ask. We do our best to ask customers first if they need help, but sometimes that can get repetitive. No one wants to be asked by 10 people in a row "do you need help?". Besides, one of the biggest reasons you need help at other retail store is because the electronics are fake models. At Apple, you can experience the real products. Would you rather listen to one of us drone on about an iPad or play with one yourself?
Sure sometimes when it gets slow we socialize with each other. That happens in any workplace. Coworkers who like each other and know each other are more productive in my experience. But if you see us standing there talking about football, walk up and either join in, telling us about your team, or ask us if we can assist you. But don't just brood in the corner, then storm out, go home, and rage online.
"They put me in a queue!"
Most stores I go to (non-Apple, that is) have ropelines near checkout, where you stand and wait to pay for your merchandise. It get's pretty boring standing in a line. At Apple, we too get busy, but instead we have a virtual "line" called iQueue, that allows you to continue to walk around and browse while still retaining your place "in line". This is a feature of our stores, not a detractor. If we can help you instantly we will. If we can't, we ask you to wait just like any other business would, except you can do it without the confines of standing still in a physical line.
"Just give me one of those scanners and I'll check myself out!"
It's called EasyPay for customers, it's in the Apple Store App for iOS devices available on the App Store. Go download it and next time check yourself out.
"The customer IS always right, why do they argue with me?"
Specifically to Moduz's experience, we do our best to make sure our customers get what they need. The best way to do that is to get to know the customer. Now for a rare power-user like yourself, yes you want to be in and out. And maybe the employee should have gotten a better read that you were ready to go. We aren't perfect. Next time just politely say "I appreciate your advice but I'm sure this is the model I want and I'm ready to check out." 99% of Apple Employees will ring you up at that point, no questions asked.
Keep in mind though we do this to help. Not just to make sure you get the right computer, but for other reasons too. One, making you aware of everything we have to offer. Most electronics stores don't do training on their products right in the store. So customers don't expect it. But we do. So sometimes if we talk a bit you find out, "wow you guys do training right here in store? I didn't know that!"
"Your business model of no cash registers is all wrong!"
Well, our record-breaking profits would disagree with you. As would the vast majority of my customers who tell me that the ability of me to check them out with my EasyPay right then and there is really awesome and convenient.
"I don't like how busy Apple Stores are. I don't like their employee's attitude. I don't like their model. I don't like any of it."
They don't come? I've never understood internet trolls. Why complain repeatedly about a business but continue to shop there and visit rumor sites about their products?
You want to stop thinking about america being the center of the universe..
Dude, are Apple stores open at all on Sunday in Switzerland?
Thanks, AppleAnon, for such a thorough post.
I'm one of those power users who still has a question now and then. I notice that I get passed from one employee to another, which is appropriate. I don't expect everyone to know everything, and if the answer was so simple that every store staff member knew it then I'd figure it out myself.
One problem I've noticed, however, is that employees aren't as willing as they should be to say "I don't know". I've had them give me incorrect information on a few occasions, which I learned only later. Perhaps that's something managers could encourage. I won't think less of them if they don't happen to have the information I want at their fingertips, but I'd rather they not give me a guess of an answer (and sound so confident that I don't doubt them).
For example, a few weeks ago I went to a retail store with two related questions. The employee gave me an answer to one question and referred me to someone more expert for the other question. Then the expert told me both answers, contradicting the first employee's answer. If I hadn't had the second question I would have gone home with the wrong answer to the first question.
I won't complain about one other habit I've noticed: having an employee look in the Apple Knowledge Base for answers right after I told them that I've already looked in the Apple Knowledge Base (I even tell them what I learned there and what it didn't cover). I know that they can't trust customers to have done a thorough check for information that may already be there; I'm always thorough but they don't know that, so I think they are correct to check it themselves. Then, if they agree with me that the answer isn't there, we can proceed from there.
I did find it funny that the last time I asked for help they clicked into a thread about it at MacRumors.
I'm one of those power users who still has a question now and then. I notice that I get passed from one employee to another, which is appropriate. I don't expect everyone to know everything, and if the answer was so simple that every store staff member knew it then I'd figure it out myself.
One problem I've noticed, however, is that employees aren't as willing as they should be to say "I don't know". I've had them give me incorrect information on a few occasions, which I learned only later. Perhaps that's something managers could encourage. I won't think less of them if they don't happen to have the information I want at their fingertips, but I'd rather they not give me a guess of an answer (and sound so confident that I don't doubt them).
For example, a few weeks ago I went to a retail store with two related questions. The employee gave me an answer to one question and referred me to someone more expert for the other question. Then the expert told me both answers, contradicting the first employee's answer. If I hadn't had the second question I would have gone home with the wrong answer to the first question.
I won't complain about one other habit I've noticed: having an employee look in the Apple Knowledge Base for answers right after I told them that I've already looked in the Apple Knowledge Base (I even tell them what I learned there and what it didn't cover). I know that they can't trust customers to have done a thorough check for information that may already be there; I'm always thorough but they don't know that, so I think they are correct to check it themselves. Then, if they agree with me that the answer isn't there, we can proceed from there.
I did find it funny that the last time I asked for help they clicked into a thread about it at MacRumors.
Completely the opposite. I don't need a "tech support" person to sell me a computer. If that is what I am waiting on, it is unneeded. If however the 30 people standing in the middle of the floor chitchatting are there for unneeded tech support, then yeah, Apple should cut back on those people or teach them how to do sales.
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All I want is someone to get me a box with the specs I asked for... I don't need any more than that. Maybe I am the anomaly because I actually research my purchases before I walk into the store. I am not asking for something to be fixed, I just want to pay money for goods. I literally enter the store with this mentality...
But I can't get any help
The difference between the deli and Apple Stores is that at the deli I am a satisfied customer. I do only order online. The downside to that is that someday it will mean your job. Oh well, to quote every military leader in history, "I tried."
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PS. Apple doesn't give discounts for being a tool.
AppleAnon summed it up perfectly. I won't get into the details, but I know what he/she is talking about.
My experience has always been that I get help if I need it (the employees seem to be able to sense this) but if I don't need help they'll leave me alone! I spent over an hour looking at the 27" iMac when it first came out (also compared with the 21.5"). I brought in my own image files to look at and was there over an hour. Nobody ever asked if they could help me, and indeed they couldn't. But if I've got a few questions or need to buy something quickly the service is better than any other store -- I can get in and out in a minute or two it seems.
But I still think they need more floor space.
But I still think they need more floor space.
And I applied for a job and have heard nothing back.
It was months before I finally got an email for an interview. I actually ended up going to two interviews. Sadly I believe I botched the second due to nerves and never did get the job. Honestly though it was probably for the best considering the management didn't even send an email or phone me after the second. I literally called, emailed and walked into the store several times asking for a response and not once did I get to speak with anyone even remotely in charge. It was really rude and unprofessional in my opinion. (especially considering how easy a mass "thanks for trying" kind of email would be to send out)
Anyways, good luck.
I hear you. I applied in the midst of my Phd when there was a new store opening in town, I decided not to go ahead when I found out the minimum was 19 hours. Then when my Phd funding did actually run out, I reapplied and heard nothing from them. Luckily my supervisor was able to employ me (and is still employing me) while I finish off.
Why would anyone want to work at an apple store as a career?
The job is nothing more than a poorly paid store clerk with no job security and minimum benefits and attracts mostly students who need a job while in school.
In China, their factories force underage students to work long hours as interns with the threat that they won't be allowed to graduate from school if they don't agree.
Maybe that will be the next move here as well.
It's plain to see why apple is rolling in dough.
They overcharge for their products and use underpaid sweat shop workers to produce them.
Now they are too cheap to hire more workers and want to bully the ones they have into working ever longer hours.