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If your lifetime career choice is retail salesperson at a mall you might want to look into some of your past life choices.

If everyone was a rocket scientist … :rolleyes: just saying. It’s a job like any other, but would like to think that you should be paid a fair and live with some dignity.
 
Somebody will always find something to complain about to compensate for their deficiencies, in this case anti-capitalism. Oye....

Come on, surely you don't really believe we all have equal ability? intelligence? physical strength? We're all different and a lot of those differences are just how we are. I'm 5'6". Nothing I can do will ever make me taller...

So why label people whose differences result in typically lower paid jobs as deficient as if it were their fault? Or treat them worse? Or pay them less? Or spuriously label them as the reason not everyone bliindly believes in capitalism?

If I were more like you I would simply have berated you for your reasoning 'deficiences'.
 
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Selling a Macbook doesn't require any special training or education that takes years to learn and master. The normal workers (non-geniuses) are earning $12-14/hour. I don't see anything horrible about it.

That's not a good way to see it.

If I pay you 12$ an hour for something that bring me 100$ an hour of profits, would you consider that the 88$ I make from your work is "fair" considered that "hey, you don't need that much qualification to do it".
 
A few of Sydney's geniuses are legit, I'd give them an enormous pay increase. But the retail employees? I've watched them in stores around the world, Covent Garden store, Louvre store, Sydney store... they are like annoying flies. It's a ratio of 1:15 of nice, friendly, knowledgable to hyper-arrogant "I work for Apple" douches.
 
ROFLMAO, you must still live at home with your mom. That statement does not even show your understanding of the economy we live in or how its going to get ever better for people like me and bad for people like them. :D

Then what do you think they are paid according to if they are not at minimum wage? All I stated was a law of wages in capitalism. It doesn't take that much to be a guy who just tells people where stuff is at the Apple Store. The people in the Genius Bar have more valuable skill sets.

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Actually Government workers should be paid really low salaries. For what is accomplished, if it was a private sector business, the government would be a horrible company and would be broke 15 trillion times over.

Judging by my last experience at the DMV, they're probably already paid miserably low salaries. Nobody there is in a good mood.
 
i believe the 25% increase is only for employees with minimum wages and would not concern "other" retail employees such as creatives, geniuses and business
 
An employee's salary isn't determined by what income they produce for the company but rather how important they individually are for the company, i.e. how easy it is to replace them. Since retail is a fairly low qualified job and there's an abundance of unemployed people looking for work, the employer doesn't need to give high salaries to get the positions filled easily. If the employee doesn't like it, he's free to go, other people are standing in line to take his place.
It's an employers paradise.

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That's not a good way to see it.

If I pay you 12$ an hour for something that bring me 100$ an hour of profits, would you consider that the 88$ I make from your work is "fair" considered that "hey, you don't need that much qualification to do it".

Are you saying that $100 profit is all because of the $12 salesman? Product research, development, manufacturing etc. none of that contributed to the $100 profit?
 
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Greed is the root of all evil !!

America, take note.

I don't know if Darth Vader was really greedy. I mean, it just looks like the rebels were attacking the Empire for no reason.

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An employee's salary isn't determined by what income they produce for the company but rather how important they individually are for the company, i.e. how easy it is to replace them. Since retail is a fairly low qualified job and there's an abundance of unemployed people looking for work, the employer doesn't need to give high salaries to get the positions filled easily. If the employee doesn't like it, he's free to go, other people are standing in line to take his place.
It's an employers paradise.

Tell that to kiljoy616.
 
A few of Sydney's geniuses are legit, I'd give them an enormous pay increase. But the retail employees? I've watched them in stores around the world, Covent Garden store, Louvre store, Sydney store... they are like annoying flies. It's a ratio of 1:15 of nice, friendly, knowledgable to hyper-arrogant "I work for Apple" ****s.

My dad asked someone there if they sold UPS devices, and he told him that they can ship using UPS (United Postal Service). He said no, he wants a UPS battery. The employee said that iPod charging cables are in the iPod section. My dad said no, he wants an uninterrupted power supply. The employee asked his colleagues if they had any optical power supplies only to find that they don't. :rolleyes:

But a lot of the guys at our local Apple Store are actually knowledgeable.

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Are you saying that $100 profit is all because of the $12 salesman? Product research, development, manufacturing etc. none of that contributed to the $100 profit?

It's like car factory workers complaining that they don't get any of the cars that they made.

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They can feel free to quit their job and let me take their place. I'd gladly work there while in college. Big discounts on Apple hardware and decent pay, what more is there to ask for?

Same here.

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When a company is as successful as Apple is, they draw a lot of attention. It's not unusual for them to be scrutinized. Apple loves the headlines anyway. The more attention the better. It's what makes the brand a very recognized name.

Yep, like how Greenpeace (want to choose a more overused name combo?) criticized Apple because they have cloud services and use electricity. They're not even a relatively big cloud company, but they're a big company in general.

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How about lowering prices, that'll boom sales!

I think they've already chosen the optimum price based on some kind of P(x) equation.

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I don't understand why people are so upset about higher wages. Yeah it is retail, but these people do more than just ringing up high ticket items. Often they are providing solutions to you and your idiotic family members that cannot figure anything out or refuse to use google. These people are the reason customers go to apple stores and not walmart, target or best buy. I don't see anything wrong with looking for ways to retain or attract good employees.

Can't the employees look stuff up on Google too? Actually, they do. My brother tried going on the support chat and asking about his broken Macintosh SE/30.

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I used to work at the Apple store in KOP, PA making $10/hr. The people who ran the kiosks in the middle selling Pillow Pals and knockoff sunglasses got $15/hr. Many other retailers got paid more.

You can't have a family and afford Apple products for $10/hr.

These jobs are for teenagers or young people. You should aim for a better career than Apple Store retail (not talking to you personally).
 
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They are selling electronics. They are selling electronics. They are selling electronics.

In case you missed it they are selling electronics. It's not strenuous physical labor. They are not 1000's of feet above or below ground. They are not working in hazardous conditions, with heavy machinery or around any number of things that could kill or injure them. They are not even doing skilled delicate tedious work that requires years of training. They are selling electronics.

The unfortunate thing is that people who actually work with dangerous machinery throughout the world get paid less than these people. Please, I'm not criticizing foxconn, but the industrial principle throughout the world.
 
That's not a good way to see it.

If I pay you 12$ an hour for something that bring me 100$ an hour of profits, would you consider that the 88$ I make from your work is "fair" considered that "hey, you don't need that much qualification to do it".

I don't understand. Should a business make any profit?

If retailer get that money, what waiters should get?
 
Retail is a terribly industry in which to work. The low pay. The centralised control which means even 'managers' simply plug a into b.

It's funny how people have such unrealistic expectations as customers...

'Ooooooh, I went to Best Buy and the staff didn't know anything about the products...'

Do you think they get properly trained or something?
 
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If the Apple Store don't like their salaries, they are more than welcome to go work somewhere else.

Capitalism wins here.

Where? If the little kids in Asia don't like to extract metals from electronics on a pan in the tent and the bowl of soup they get, they are more than welcome to go work somewhere else.

Does anyone win? Is it always about winning? Are you a winner, or are you a loser?

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So your admitting to sexual discrimination. What a turd.

Oh well, in reality we all discriminate when purchasing electronics and other typical to women labor products. It is not discrimination, it is the proper application of gender to a given task. As nice as it sounds in the western propaganda of equality and the political blabber... we all know that women and men alike are not really the same.
 
Forget the media, forget the politics, forget everything outside the walls of the company, and here's what I believe: I fail to see what's so awful about a company leader saying, "hey, folks, you're going good work. We're all very happy here at HQ. Here's a token of our appreciation."

If you can boost employee morale and afford to do right by your people, and if they deserve it, then what's the problem with giving folks a raise? This goes a lot deeper than just the retail employees.

Executives need to realize that if you treat people well, pay a fair market wage, and show just a shred of respect, they'd have a lot more loyal, enthusiastic employees. That's good for business.

From a consumer viewpoint, I don't want to shop at a place where the help looks miserable and takes it out on me. I want to shop where the folks look like they want to be there, like they enjoy helping a customer.
 
I don't understand this article. The NYT wants me to hate on Apple for paying the most vs other companies? It seems there is never a win situation with what Apple does when it comes to the NYT. Maybe Apple should ask NYT what they would do? Surely dropping wages wouldn't be the answer right?
 
I agree with the angry sentiment expressed throughout the thread. These unskilled workers don't realize how lucky they are to be part a movement so much bigger than they are and so much more important than their individual lives. I feel like if we could round up all the true believers on MacRumors, we could petition Apple to allow us to volunteer in their retail stores, which might allow Apple to at the least stop this wage inflation. Even if we already have full time jobs, we could pitch in on the weekends when Apple Stores are the busiest. Some of us think that our duties as evangelists ended when Apple became the world's most valuable company, but really we are now in a position where we are at the top and we have to fight to stay here. Our mission may no longer be to convert people since the "rest of us" is now all of us, but it takes on different forms such as disputing the myths about labor issues in China and ensuring Apple's American labor doesn't forget what and whom it's working for.

A movement bigger than their own lives? Apple makes fine products, but it's a dressed-up electronics company. They're not curing cancer, diabetes, or any of a thousand other things.

Some of you "true believers" are certifiable. Apple is a company, like any other. Steve Jobs was a man, like any other. True, he had a knack for good computers and, ultimately, shiny toys we really don't need for survival. He wasn't a messiah. Apple wasn't worth a damn nearly 20 years ago. Two decades from now, they may not exist. Nothing lasts forever. Such devotion to an electronics company, and the drivel you're spewing, is frightening.

But, if you want to work for a multi-billion dollar corporation for free as a means to live your life ... well, brother, go right ahead. You might be awfully lonely. "Evangealists"? ****, dude, you need help.
 
If the Apple Store don't like their salaries, they are more than welcome to go work somewhere else.

Capitalism wins here.

But you still want your super friendly, dedicated Apple Fans boys to serve you right?

Just for their dedication they should get paid more! IF it was not for these staff, Apple would not have such a high customer satisfaction rating!
 
What's new? Some of us do believe that all of the constituent parts of a whole economic organisms should be entitled to a proportionate share of the wealth. How do you think McDonald's posts enormous profits every quarter? Are employees all getting their fair share. I'm daring to be wild here and say- "No".

HOWEVER, what mechanism do we use to insure fairness, and is it ethical to impose appropriate distribution of wealth in a company, and who decides what is proportionate? In the end, I think we will find that the best mechanisms for change in distribution may be social pressure- which in this case, is what is being done, and that's all right- not government mandates.

Frankly, I find it all a little funny. Why pick on Apple? So Apple's above-average, but that's not good enough for these noble people, dammit! Are they paying their magazine people enough? Quite comical.

That said, I do wish that most of the money went to everyone in the company, after expenses and R&D, not to make wealthy people wealthier.
 
Forget the media, forget the politics, forget everything outside the walls of the company, and here's what I believe: I fail to see what's so awful about a company leader saying, "hey, folks, you're going good work. We're all very happy here at HQ. Here's a token of our appreciation."

If you can boost employee morale and afford to do right by your people, and if they deserve it, then what's the problem with giving folks a raise?

Because I sense, as I don't know for obvious reasons, is when you have absurdly large assets, perhaps something happens where one starts mentally f+++++g with the world rather than enjoying it and perhaps improving it for others, it is a certain phenomena of not exactly greed, but a sense change and deviation, components which then naturally prohibit a reasonable perception of the state of reality, where of course the item you call "appreciation" "morale" is now organically non existent. There are similarities with the rise of the NSDAP in the 30's. The modern world similarities of complacent millions of uniformed workers and the next ones already lined up to keep the machine in constant motion are nothing new, nor good. Historically, the participants were never well compensated, but they were dedicated for one reason or another. Back in Munich, they were also modern fanboys marching with a smile and a great vision for the utopian life as one imagined. I personally think it is all wrong and it ends more or less abruptly one day, so it is important to value what has value. A good wine, and good people at a good place and good music and kindness to all.
 
I'll admit to being surprised that pay was as low as it is (in Canada, the minimum is $10.25, I think).... But this isn't really how supply and demand works. A lot of people want an unskilled job and love talking about Apple products. It's that simple. Apple shouldn't be held up to higher standards because they are more successful. If you want to raise minimum wage across the US, that's one thing, but you don't penalize a company for getting most of their business right.
 
Personaly I think it is good that Apple Store employees do not get a commision on sales. Not because I begrudge them the money, I would be more than happy for them to get more, but because it would change their relationship with the customer. Apples decision to not pay commision was a very enlightened one in that by removing all pressure to sell, the store becomes a relaxing place to visit and work. The staff are not acting as sale people they are acting as guides. An Apple Store is almost like a creche where the customers like children are given the freedom to play and explore. The staff intervine and help only when asked or when they feel it apropriate. Give the staff more money, sure, give them profit share from Apple overall, possibly, but store profit share or commision, definitley not, it would poison the well.
 
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