Apple's Retail Store Staff Compensation Criticized

[Swordylove]

Since Apple is making so much money, don't you think it's more right to ask Apple to cut down the prices, instead?

Raise demand for employees just because Apple makes so much money, and not because the current salary isn't enough, doesn't sound so right. If the employees feel stressful about their salary (which I doubt they do), they can quit at anytime and many others are more than willing to take their place.

 

[Reason077]

What the hell are you complaining about? Every year, lots of people start new in this job, with the lowest salary.

You're touching on what I'm complaining about right here. Working in an Apple Store is, obviously, a great first job for kids out of college. It provides great experience at a great company for a lot of people. These kids learn the ropes at a world class company that pretty much sets the standards for everybody else, then eventually move on and up to great long-term careers elsewhere.

The problem is that if Apple start pumping up retail wages to unreasonably high levels (i.e. much higher than the employees would be earning in other comparable retail jobs) then eventually the stores are going to end up being staffed with a lot of jaded jobsworths who hung on to those lucrative Apple store jobs for years and years instead of moving on with their careers. Why would you ever look elsewhere when it doesn't seem like there's any chance of the "real world" matching your Apple store wages? Service quality goes down and a little bit of the Apple store experience is lost - both for staff and customers.

The knock on effect of this is that all those opportunities for freshly graduated college kids dries up. It becomes much harder to get in to a lucrative position at an Apple store, so those kids end up working at a Best Buy (or worse) and don't get anything like the great experience they get at Apple.

 

[sined13]

I'm pretty sure that retail employees have very little to do with Apple's popularity, and its ability to market and sell its products.

 

[Rocketman]

Two of this nation's largest employers and retailers with high dollar profits are Wal-Mart and McDonald's. I think the comparison should be to a consumer goods company not a premium retailer of jewelry where there is a definite requirement for appearance and etiquette, such as Tiffiny's.

Apple has attitude specifications, and a t-shirt requirement, but as for the rest of the outfit and even the personal body art, the rest seems wide-open. It is a bit of a conundrum when you first see it.

Not this article, but serious ones in financial magazines and newspapers typically try to value all the wages and benefits, not wages alone. When you include the health benefits, the access to a 401k, the employee discounts, and the product credits for even relatively new employees (90 days IIRC), the all-in wage is quite a bit higher and the all-in cost of that employee to Apple would shock you considering what they also pay to various governments on behalf of the employee. Very little of the benefit costs come out of the paycheck. Mostly the 401k contribution.

Rocketman

 

[NIKKG]

We recently put a job opening up on Craigslist for a small retail store in NY for pretty much a stock boy / delivery boy position at 8 bucks an hour with no health benefits. We got over 200 applicants in 7 days.

Making 12 bucks an hour, plus full medical and 401K in a mall selling computers that essentially sell themselves is pretty sweet in my opinion.

That maybe true, but paying for 8 bucks just means you get alot of turnover and you have to constantly train the next guy. Also, shrinkage can be high when you get people that desperate. Personally, I'd rather pay them better so that I can have someone reliable instead of wasting alot of time for training.

 

[charlituna]

But the sales person needs to know the product far better than an apple employee needs to know an iPhone. It's far easier to lose a customer when trying to sell a car than when trying to sell a phone. There's often more time invested in each customer when selling a car than when picking up a phone, swiping a card and putting it in a bag.

Are you certain of these things. Absolutely positively certain that selling a phone is as simple as just scanning a couple of bar codes, taking some money and out they go.

I can tell you that it is not. I know this from the 4 iPhones that I have bought for my own use. And countless interactions I have seen when I've been in the stores for other things. It is just as difficult.

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Nothing. Except compassion, the desire to see society as a whole prosper rather than a few selfish individuals who got lucky, a sense of fairness maybe?

So like with the whole Foxconn issue, Apple is shamed public into 'fixing' this 'problem' while the other several thousand companies are ignored.

You have just as many folks working at places like Best Buy, Gap etc. How many of them are being paid 'decently', how many of them have medical insurance etc. I remember when I was interviewing for Barnes and Noble for a part time job and found out that not only wasn't there any kind of paid leave or health insurance for part times, IF you were lucky enough to go full time it would be six months later before you could get insurance. Ouch. Oh and their offer to me for pay to take that part time job --- 10 cents over minimum wage. I was supposed to be grateful that I was being offered $8.35. In LA. Good thing I had 4 housemates. Good thing too that that job only ended up lasting me 5 weeks before I got a much much better offer.

 

[homeward]

Apple vs. Costco

One graph in the Times article compared the sales in dollars per sq. ft. at Apple compared to Costco (a warehouse retailer). Apple of course sold much more per sq. ft., but Costco's employee's earned more per hour. What the Times didn't mention was employees per sq. ft. Everywhere you turn at Apple you can see a sales associate or a genius. Costco has about 2 employees per store - one to put your shopping cart onto the ramp going to the second floor, and one to pull your cart off when you're coming down. Plus 5 checkout people. That's about .000001 employees per sq. ft. Not a fair comparison.

 

[NetCatman]

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.

Amen! I've considered working for Apple or Best Buy, but I have a really hard time putting up with idiots. Kudos to those that can!

 

[MaxGravy]

So how much does the NYT pay THEIR employees? Is it possible they exploit kids by paying them a pittence to deliver the NYT? Hmmm?

 

[martygras9]

Back in 2003, I worked at The Virgin Megastore in Union Square while in college. Pay was $7 an hour. What was an even bigger kicker was that at my work study, I got paid $8 an hour.

After working there for a 4 months, they did give me a raise. 13 cents. I kid you not.

Crappy pay at retail stores is a fact of life. Get through it and you'll be a better person for it. I'm now the senior motion graphic designer at an advertising agency. Crap jobs make for great stories.

 

[kurosov]

Sounds like they want apple to use a commission based pay system for their retail stores when that is one of the main reasons shopping at an apple store is great.

Those systems essentially forge employees to go for a sale of certain items even when they are not right for the consumer. They cause staff to worry for their job if their sales are too low, managers to hound staff who are not seen selling enough of x product and customers being blatantly lied to and cheated by the sales staff because sales numbers are more important than customers.

 

[JHankwitz]

I know what I want to purchase from an Apple store before I even enter the door. The only 'work' an Apple employee does from my perspective is take my money. The idea that this person should receive higher compensation because Apple knows how to sell products without having to use sales clerks to make the sale is crazy.

The way these stores are set up is excellent. If I need help, I see a 'Genius', who knows more and gets paid more than a sales clerk. This is the way our system works. If you don't like it, move to a Socialist country and suffer along with the rest of the equalized downtrodden masses.

 

[applesith]

No one is forcing anyone to work at an Apple store. They are not mistreated or overworked. Anyone signing a contract to work for an employer knows their pay.

Maybe the Times could make some jobs instead of constantly undermining those who do. It's never going to be good enough for the Times until Apple gives the company away to a union like the government did with GM.

 

[yakapo]

I've never bought anything from apple b/c of the guy/ girl at the store. I know what I want before I get there.

Someone posted something similar but if they don't like the salary then get a different job.

 

[JHankwitz]

Back in 2003, I worked at The Virgin Megastore in Union Square while in college. Pay was $7 an hour. After working there for a 4 months, they did give me a raise. 13 cents. I kid you not.

A 1.8% pay raise after only 4 months is pretty good. Most are luckey to get 2% after a year.

 

[radiogoober]

Ugh, the liberal entitled generation is absolutely disgusting.

 

[8281]

Wow, yet another anti-capitalism, anti-Apple diatribe from the NYT. What a surprise. Perhaps the government should mandate pay rates based on a company's success in the marketplace. Am I right comrades?

A little hyperbolic perhaps? Criticizing a company isn't any more anti-capitilist than criticizing our government is anti-American.

 

[scoobydoo99]

Easily the stupidest premise for a story I've seen in a while.

Who cares how much the salespeople make relative to the company's profits? Nowhere in retail do the sales staff take home a salary commensurate with the company's profits. Why would anyone expect otherwise?

The reporter, editor, and anyone who pushes this drivel (including MacRumors) should be out of a job. They know this is just sensational trash "journalism".

 

[Kabeyun]

What about their age?

Before concluding anything about Apple's semployment practices, I'd be interested in the average age of Apple's sales staff. Surprised that the NYTimes didn't consider that. I'd be less bothered by a low starting wage if the average Apple salesperson is younger than that at those other retailers. Based on my experience at four Apple stores, I'd expect this to be true.

 

[martygras9]

A 1.8% pay raise after only 4 months is pretty good. Most are luckey to get 2% after a year.

Quite true, sir. I was one of the lucky ones. Majority of the employees didn't get a pay increase as the store wasn't bringing in enough money. Hence why both Megastores are no longer present in Manhattan.

 

[NetCatman]

Absolutely - NYT never ever has any political agenda. Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more.

Exactly! Completely unbiased. On a related note, interested in buying a bridge?

 

[8281]

Ugh, the liberal entitled generation is absolutely disgusting.

Opposed to the Boomer entitlement generation? Two of the largest expenditures in the federal budget will soon be Medicare and Social Security (barring any significant reform, of course). They also voted for lower taxes and expanded Medicare prescription drug coverage during two wars...

 

[scorwitz]

Tough but the alternative not great either

This is a tough one. I'm all for employees sharing in the wealth of their company. The retail employees provide a great service and are often the ones who gently nudge the customer into the decision to purchase.

Ideally they would make a very fair percentage commission in addition to a base hourly rate. BUT that would completely shift their incentive from one of helping and being excited about the product to one of wanting a sale at any cost. Better that Apple make this the best retail job available, and they could have afforded more of an increase.

 

[carmenodie]

I wasn't aware that retail employees were considered skilled workers. People should stop whining.

You don't have to be a skilled worker to make an great salary. The public spends in excess and billions of dollars enters Apple's bank account every year.
Hell, I knew middle school drop outs from the hood making over 7 grand a week slinging crack and heroine.
And top designers may come up with the design but they draw it once and it is reproduced millions of times by slave laborers in 3rd world countries.

 

[blumpkin]

Jesus ****ing Christ is it possible to enjoy any modicum of success without being labeled a villain? For ****'s sake they are retail employees. If their sales skills are so stellar then maybe they should be selling something else.