Pretty well, except I know Costco starts at $11. Or did when I worked there 3 years ago.
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Apple Retail Store Staff Set to Gain Raises of Up to 25%
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Pretty well, except I know Costco starts at $11. Or did when I worked there 3 years ago.
I understand the sentiment, but a retail worker is not really middle class. The "problem" with middle class is that if you make around the median wage, you can't hardly afford a decent house and car, and to feed your kids the same week. Now you need 2 incomes to do that. Both median wage.Ah, no wonder people are saying America has no middle class anymore, and the gap between poor and rich is too wide.
If you're lucky. Most I know have master's degree's, are barely paying off the principal on their student loans, living in a small one bedroom apartment, and are working in what are considered "decent" fields. I recall as a child, most were raised in a nice home with a one parent income, never wanted for anything, had a great school system, and it seemed the world was exactly as our parents said, "we could be anything we wanted." Times have sadly changed.
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...
meh..it's basic supply and demand. stores here have no problem finding workers for $7-10/hr. in fact the # of qualified applicants far exceeds the available positions.
Disgraceful. Working for the greatest company on Earth should be payment enough. Fancy going to work for Microsoft
Really?! I hope you're joking. You can work for free if you want. Me, I like to eat!
I think its great that a company is investing in their workforce. Retail is really a hectic gig. Different personalities and with the kind of traffic Apple gets I can only imagine the loons that come through.
That is true unfortunately and is exactly what is happening in this country now, why pay them $15+/hr when some are willing to work for less.
He may have meant economically:
GDP as a percentage of Australia GDP measured in USD
United States......1586%
California............210%
Texas .................131%
New York............125%
Florida................82%
Illinois................70%
Pennsylvania........62%
New Jersey..........54%
Ohio....................52%
Virginia................46%
That's why Americans are all getting so fat. Too many people think they are too good to live in a cardboard box and eat out of a dumpster. The pride in being a good slave should be payment enough.
Remember, every paycheck you get takes money away from a poor underprivileged, overworked executive.
First, $9+ an hour, in Retail, is great. Especially a (physically) small store like Apple compared to say Sears or Best Buy...and especially to a store with so few products...and a store like Apple that doesn't have you stocking shelves a few times a day.
If you don't want to work at Apple, yet still want the Retail job life, go find yourself a better gig. Seriously. If you want to work as an "hourly" employee, regardless of age, $8-$12 is the average in the USA depending on the employer, the location, and the job duties. Yes, even many store "managers" in Retail are hourly but may come with other perks. Hourly employees also very likely have a different "schedule" every week or so...so that may be a constant annoyance, too.
If you don't want to work as an hourly employee, then go find yourself a "salary" job. Depending on a ton of factors, your take-home pay can be in a very large range such as $25k to $195k a year depending on your experience and field. But make no mistake, an extremely high percentage of salary jobs are 40+ hours a week in the USA...usually 50+ when you sit down and count your time doing work. You can extract the hourly rate from a salary job if you want (say you make $50k a year salary...and 40 hours a week...that would be 52 weeks X 40 hours = 2080 hours a year. Divide 50k by 2080 and you'd be making $24/hour. But then you have to figure in all the other pros/cons that come with a salary job such as health benefits, more taxes, 401k/savings plans, likely longer/worse commutes, better chance of earning more money/promotion than a retail job where you're a floor attendant forever, etc.)...but extracting the hourly from a salary job is a headache and filled with pitfalls in regards to true accuracy.
So if you like retail, $9-$12 is what you're going to earn...for a very long time. If you don't like that pay range, go do something different. It's been well-known for decades, if not half a century, that the very, very high percentage of Retail jobs simply don't pay well.
If you don't want to work at Apple, yet still want the Retail job life, go find yourself a better gig. Seriously. If you want to work as an "hourly" employee, regardless of age, $8-$12 is the average in the USA depending on the employer, the location, and the job duties. Yes, even many store "managers" in Retail are hourly but may come with other perks. Hourly employees also very likely have a different "schedule" every week or so...so that may be a constant annoyance, too.
If you don't want to work as an hourly employee, then go find yourself a "salary" job. Depending on a ton of factors, your take-home pay can be in a very large range such as $25k to $195k a year depending on your experience and field. But make no mistake, an extremely high percentage of salary jobs are 40+ hours a week in the USA...usually 50+ when you sit down and count your time doing work. You can extract the hourly rate from a salary job if you want (say you make $50k a year salary...and 40 hours a week...that would be 52 weeks X 40 hours = 2080 hours a year. Divide 50k by 2080 and you'd be making $24/hour. But then you have to figure in all the other pros/cons that come with a salary job such as health benefits, more taxes, 401k/savings plans, likely longer/worse commutes, better chance of earning more money/promotion than a retail job where you're a floor attendant forever, etc.)...but extracting the hourly from a salary job is a headache and filled with pitfalls in regards to true accuracy.
So if you like retail, $9-$12 is what you're going to earn...for a very long time. If you don't like that pay range, go do something different. It's been well-known for decades, if not half a century, that the very, very high percentage of Retail jobs simply don't pay well.
Managing/owning/operating retail stores it has always been my philosophy to pay more than the other guys. It reduces churn, allows you to keep better people and expect / demand more out of your workers.
If they can just go down the street and get another job for the same wage, motivation to excel can be dampened in some.
If they can just go down the street and get another job for the same wage, motivation to excel can be dampened in some.
Raises of "up to 25%". It's like those inventory clearance sales where prices are reduced on "some items" by 50% if you can find them at all, but the only inventory clearance going on is the regular items at regular price once you get there.
With labor rates in a difficult economy "retention bonuses" are a great idea to keep meritorious employees on a selective basis. I do give Apple credit for recognizing this earlier than most and being relatively loyal to employees. Yes Apple can also be a hard-ass in many ways and those folks subject to it are not allowed to talk about it. So this is a PR move to be sure.
But the simple fact it is a subject of discussion is a good thing. I would not hold my breath if I were an Apple employee that I was going to get any sort of windfall. More likely it will be a single ratchet up, more than usual, portending a long, long, wait till the next one. Probably right before the next Presidential election.
If I were an Apple employee I would rather have a 1-2% commission.
Rocketman
With labor rates in a difficult economy "retention bonuses" are a great idea to keep meritorious employees on a selective basis. I do give Apple credit for recognizing this earlier than most and being relatively loyal to employees. Yes Apple can also be a hard-ass in many ways and those folks subject to it are not allowed to talk about it. So this is a PR move to be sure.
But the simple fact it is a subject of discussion is a good thing. I would not hold my breath if I were an Apple employee that I was going to get any sort of windfall. More likely it will be a single ratchet up, more than usual, portending a long, long, wait till the next one. Probably right before the next Presidential election.
If I were an Apple employee I would rather have a 1-2% commission.
Rocketman
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Yeah I have had nothing but superior experiences with apple staff, especially the genius bar. They are what makes AppleCare the most valuable warranty relative to any product line in existence.
I have a lot of retail experience in my past and certainly know how it works. You end up getting some sort of reflection of how you behave. If you act rudely and aggressively you will NEVER get someone's best effort. This is why you find some people find life such a struggle while others have many fewer problems.
Um, how much did gas, housing, day care, insurance, and medical cost 10 years ago? A lot less than they do now.
California: 37,253,956
Texas: 25,145,561
Australia: 22,328,800
All I was trying to say is it's really hard to measure countries that are so different.
2011 Aus GDP per capita is $65,000
only Washington DC, Delaware, Alaska, Connecticut, and Wyoming are at or above that.
But in the US the population is probably better collected in many cities for sales
I think it's safe to say that these guys really deserve the raise.
They work in the busiest stores - even more importantly tech stores (we know what that sometimes implies).
They REALLY put customers first and often take a verbal beating for the most horrible PEBKACs.
They make me happy any time someone chats me up - not gay.
The list goes on and on.
Any Apple Store I've been to so far (US, UK, IT) has had friendly employees and the best shopping atmosphere I've ever witnessed.
Go Apple retail employees - you rock and help Apple grow so much!
Glassed Silver:mac
They work in the busiest stores - even more importantly tech stores (we know what that sometimes implies).
They REALLY put customers first and often take a verbal beating for the most horrible PEBKACs.
They make me happy any time someone chats me up - not gay.
The list goes on and on.
Any Apple Store I've been to so far (US, UK, IT) has had friendly employees and the best shopping atmosphere I've ever witnessed.
Go Apple retail employees - you rock and help Apple grow so much!
Glassed Silver:mac
The truth is, we (from the mid class that buy iStuff) could consume less if we wanted. Actually we prefer eating a lot of fatty junk food while having the latest Apple gadget, than eating organic, non-processed food and mantaining a not-so-old computer or car for a few years until they'll get really obsolete/broken.
I would never dream of telling someone that worked a job I'd never had that they didn't deserve a raise.
50% higher in USA than AUS. This gives a bit more realistic information about living conditions...
I wonder when the GDP per capita folks are going to whip out the spreadsheets and calculate $/sf and $/person/industrialized sf. Let's go third order!