Thanks for the education. $9/hr isn't bad for a starting position. Try getting a job in a restaurant and see how long it takes to start making $9/hr. I'm sure you have to put up with similar egos in both jobs.
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Apple Retail Store Staff Set to Gain Raises of Up to 25%
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Thanks for the education. $9/hr isn't bad for a starting position. Try getting a job in a restaurant and see how long it takes to start making $9/hr. I'm sure you have to put up with similar egos in both jobs.
I can vouch for this, as I left around 2005/6 (and it wasn't my main job, even though I was full time at ~$60k/year, was during grad school).
The staff they have now versus then is a far cry from the days of glory.
(Just noticed your above comment, were you part-time? Full-time we were on annual salary and we worked behind the bar around the same time, and yes, we were sort of the shizz-nit back then, and we had a good time too, then it all changed)
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10-12 an hour back in 2006 when I was a Genius. Genius pay was 12-25 and it was capped at 25.
We were rock stars, then "Grow Your Own" started and everything went down hill from there. Instead of hiring good people off the streets any lousy Specialist that could smile became a Genius.
No but metrics are VERY important to your review and your relationship with Management. As a Genius I was a top Applecare seller but got nothing out of it. Employees used to get yearly bonuses but they took away the bonuses and gave everyone a raise (this happened in 2007 IIRC.) I ended up getting a 2 dollar raise out of it.
Ah, no wonder people are saying America has no middle class anymore, and the gap between poor and rich is too wide. 
I'd ask if that $9/hour was just for the 14 year olds, but I'm scared what the answer would be. Here in Aus, as a college-aged student working this sort of retail job, you'd be making about $18-22 (AUD ~= USD) casual rate. Not sure what the Australian Apple stores pay, but it'd be on par with that.
McDonalds pays a 20 year old about $20/hour as well...
I'd ask if that $9/hour was just for the 14 year olds, but I'm scared what the answer would be. Here in Aus, as a college-aged student working this sort of retail job, you'd be making about $18-22 (AUD ~= USD) casual rate. Not sure what the Australian Apple stores pay, but it'd be on par with that.
McDonalds pays a 20 year old about $20/hour as well...
Apple retail is not typical retail
I know a bunch of people who work at the Boston store, and my roomie went through the complete hiring process. Apple retail is nothing like regular retail, and the fact they pay regular retail wages was shocking to me.
You don't go through 4 or 5 rounds of interviews to work at JC Penny. You don't have to create a video for the GAP about why they should hire you. You don't have to demonstrate clear knowledge of popular technologies to work at Best Buy. You don't have to work overnight shifts at Pier 1.
Apple expects a LOT from their staff for what they pay them. This is long overdue.
I know a bunch of people who work at the Boston store, and my roomie went through the complete hiring process. Apple retail is nothing like regular retail, and the fact they pay regular retail wages was shocking to me.
You don't go through 4 or 5 rounds of interviews to work at JC Penny. You don't have to create a video for the GAP about why they should hire you. You don't have to demonstrate clear knowledge of popular technologies to work at Best Buy. You don't have to work overnight shifts at Pier 1.
Apple expects a LOT from their staff for what they pay them. This is long overdue.
Last time I went to the genius bar (for repairs) I had diagnosed the problem long before he figured out what was going on. There's really nothing genius about them -- Apple won't let them be smart. Instead they're more so the generic retail drones that go down an endless checklist of protocols and procedures. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, but I think most anyone could be a genius so long as they remember the protocol.
I certainly don't think they deserve $30/hr, that's for sure. If they were allowed to be more competent (or were more competent)? Certainly, yes.
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I don't know what retail you worked in, but from where I've been, retail pays nothing close to the aforementioned Apple wages.
I certainly don't think they deserve $30/hr, that's for sure. If they were allowed to be more competent (or were more competent)? Certainly, yes.
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I don't know what retail you worked in, but from where I've been, retail pays nothing close to the aforementioned Apple wages.
Dealing with people is a pain. Specially mad / stupid / smartass costumers. I do feel sorry for what the poor folks that work in retail need cope with.
I've sent my phone 5 times to warranty and being nice got me a new phone (1 time deal though). One should not have to return one phone this many times but neither I and neither the staff have anything to do with it.
I've sent my phone 5 times to warranty and being nice got me a new phone (1 time deal though). One should not have to return one phone this many times but neither I and neither the staff have anything to do with it.
Ah, no wonder people are saying America has no middle class anymore, and the gap between poor and rich is too wide.
I'd ask if that $9/hour was just for the 14 year olds, but I'm scared what the answer would be. Here in Aus, as a college-aged student working this sort of retail job, you'd be making about $18-22 (AUD ~= USD) casual rate. Not sure what the Australian Apple stores pay, but it'd be on par with that.
McDonalds pays a 20 year old about $20/hour as well...
That's a tough one, it depends on average quality of living and costs per household. In the states, we've seen expenses sky rocket in almost every segment; education (avg higher ed costs ~$300-400k not including living expenses), consumer goods, oil and gas while the average annual household income has barely moved. In fact, it's been so bad I know quite a few ex-Pat's living your way. You guy's have done well through the past ~12 years, someone mentioned this is due to your economy being highly intertwined with Asia (AUS supplies much of the natural resources used in the tech industry).
That's crazy! When I was an intern making/developing drugs I was making ~$35, not flipping burgers!
Truthfully... Apple can EASILY afford to pay their employees more. I think it's great that they are giving everyone raises. It will only make more young people want to be a part of the Apple culture and will continue to put Apple in a good light.
Hopefully more companies will follow suit. I remember working at McDonald's as a teenager and I was given a raise of 5 cents more on my hourly wage of $5.25/hr. I quit soon after. Working in an Apple store is easy compared to working in the back grill of a McDonald's during lunch hour.
And $30/hr for a high level genius? That's pretty damn high for an hourly wage employee. That's salaried employee level there.
Hopefully more companies will follow suit. I remember working at McDonald's as a teenager and I was given a raise of 5 cents more on my hourly wage of $5.25/hr. I quit soon after. Working in an Apple store is easy compared to working in the back grill of a McDonald's during lunch hour.
And $30/hr for a high level genius? That's pretty damn high for an hourly wage employee. That's salaried employee level there.
Listen man, with these pay raises they should do some better training on their floor staff. I think sometimes they act like they're being nice, but they can come off as rude and condescending. I reached a point that when I need to buy something at an Apple Store, I walk through the door as quick as possible to reduce any interaction with these employees.
Generally, when they speak they are almost looking down on you as if you don't know anything, and they know everything. I always end up correcting them. Example: I asked if they would carry the new Retina MacBook Pros with 16GB of RAM since it's soldered. She said maybe, but you can always buy an 8GB MacBook Pro Retina and we can upgrade it later. I said, but the RAM is soldered, are you sure you're gonna upgrade that? She's like, oh you're right.
This constantly happens. I'm always happy to help my friends when they ask me to come with them to buy a new Mac, because they try to sell them on the AppleCare and other crap they don't need, and typical consumers will not know they have a year to purchase it on most Apple devices. They won't tell you that a lot of times. Very rare I've had an Apple floor staff member be original and nice.
Also, the whole you better be there 15min before your Genius appointment, and they make you wait 45min. If you come 5min late, they cancel you, and ask you to come back another time or sit and wait for 2 hours with a no-care attitude. I've had bad luck with a lot of Apple products over the years, so I got plenty of stories to tell, it's ridiculous.
Generally, when they speak they are almost looking down on you as if you don't know anything, and they know everything. I always end up correcting them. Example: I asked if they would carry the new Retina MacBook Pros with 16GB of RAM since it's soldered. She said maybe, but you can always buy an 8GB MacBook Pro Retina and we can upgrade it later. I said, but the RAM is soldered, are you sure you're gonna upgrade that? She's like, oh you're right.
This constantly happens. I'm always happy to help my friends when they ask me to come with them to buy a new Mac, because they try to sell them on the AppleCare and other crap they don't need, and typical consumers will not know they have a year to purchase it on most Apple devices. They won't tell you that a lot of times. Very rare I've had an Apple floor staff member be original and nice.
Also, the whole you better be there 15min before your Genius appointment, and they make you wait 45min. If you come 5min late, they cancel you, and ask you to come back another time or sit and wait for 2 hours with a no-care attitude. I've had bad luck with a lot of Apple products over the years, so I got plenty of stories to tell, it's ridiculous.
If more companies follow suit, they'll go bankrupt...not every company is Apple. Most are barely getting by in this economy.
I'd agree - I find Apple Store staff very helpful, but lacking in knowledge, I prefer smaller Premium Resellers instead, they tend to be much more knowledgeable to be honest.
I hope that employee (see link below) doesn't get any raise and be fired.
http://9to5mac.com/2012/06/19/apple...strictions-borders-on-racial-profiling-video/
http://9to5mac.com/2012/06/19/apple...strictions-borders-on-racial-profiling-video/
Ah, no wonder people are saying America has no middle class anymore, and the gap between poor and rich is too wide.
I'd ask if that $9/hour was just for the 14 year olds, but I'm scared what the answer would be. Here in Aus, as a college-aged student working this sort of retail job, you'd be making about $18-22 (AUD ~= USD) casual rate. Not sure what the Australian Apple stores pay, but it'd be on par with that.
McDonalds pays a 20 year old about $20/hour as well...
Australia's problems are way different than the US. There are states bigger than Australia.
Something to me smells of ********. 25 cents perhaps, maybe even on top of whatever merit raise they might have earned. But 25% just cause. I doubt it
