New Report Delves Into Poor Working Conditions at an Apple Maps 'Black Site'

[v3rlon]

Yeah, it almost sounds like Bloomberg is angry at Apple.
Anyway, this is a problem with Apex, not Apple. They promised more “possible” benefits - and largely intangible ones - to justify the less favorable conditions.

Apples secrecy is well known.

Long lines at men’s room? This sounds preposterous. One of the major reasons to be born male is shorter / nonexistent bathroom lines. I am not sure about California, but there is probably a law about number of bathrooms and number of people.

 

[blacktape242]

"sad gray"

 

[curtvaughan]

At my last job our best vending option was bugles, only drinks were tap water and cheap coffee. I had to pay for parking that was 4 blocks away and we only had one “employee entrance”. That is just normal non-perk working conditions. If people are targeting aggressive on LinkedIn don’t open the message or block the person. These seem more like privileged complaints then real problems.

That is the problem with work issues right now - people have come to accept lousy work conditions, low pay, and rotten benefits as being normal. As long as that remains the case, companies won't change. This is exactly why labor unions came into being in the early 20th century. That you had a job with no decent food or drinks available, no parking, and limited entry / exit access doesn't make it right. That it is accepted as "normal" by a lot of people is rather sad.

 

[madKIR]

in other news, Apple is a corporation LOL

 

[thisisnotmyname]

Such empathy! Not quite as easy as that for many people! You'd make great management there!

- typed from the line to the men's room and without a morning snack from the empty vending machine but really just quoting something he heard in a BS session around the water cooler.
[doublepost=1549901329][/doublepost]

That is the problem with work issues right now - people have come to accept lousy work conditions, low pay, and rotten benefits as being normal. As long as that remains the case, companies won't change. This is exactly why labor unions came into being in the early 20th century. That you had a job with no decent food or drinks available, no parking, and limited entry / exit access doesn't make it right. That it is accepted as "normal" by a lot of people is rather sad.

I think you need to check on the history of labor unions. No one is dying in fires caused by the lack of snack and drink variety in the vending machine and paid parking.

 

[iwill424]

People can be so soft these days.

There are far worse conditions than a freaking office, lol. Understocked vending machines? Lines in the bathroom? Are they serious?

Was just about to say XDD SINCE WHEN VENDING MACHINE IS CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL!? Cry me a river

 

[macfacts]

Welcome to an average work place in America.
...

I agree Apple is just some average company. Crap goes in, crap goes out.

Remember just a few weeks ago Tim was bragging about how many American jobs they support. Lol

 

[Jefe's MacAir]

Entitled youth seeing what the "other side" is like. FYI, most people don't get a job w/ Apple with little to no experience in anything. And that was the prerequisite for this job. It's an entry level, temp job.

"Former workers described a poor work environment with understocked vending machines,"

tells the whole story.

FYI, most vending machines are owned and maintained by an outside company.

 

[macfacts]

Yes it is. If I wasn't happy with my working conditions or employer I'd go & work somewhere else. Anyone can do it.

If you read the summary, that is exactly what one of the complainers did, they quit. Or are you trying to say they can't say anything bad about Apple?
[doublepost=1549902099][/doublepost]

What were their Job duties? Were they engineers? Or Manual Apple Maps Editors?

If you read the summary, you would know they aren't apple employees. Apple outsources their map work to a no name company. Now we know why apple maps still sucks.

 

[nburwell]

Contractors is not glorious work. You generally get paid less than full-time works with little to no benefits. But sometimes it gives you a foot in to the company should you eventually be hired.

While not great circumstances, I believe these contractors could've been much worse off. It's not like they are working in some sweat shop. Plus, like others have mentioned, they are free to find another job elsewhere.

 

[technole]

Every industry has a job that bottom-feeder and not really worth hiring internally, and some very top talent that they don't need forever. It's either short-term work, or constantly changing scope, etc. Silicon Valley has a lot of contractors of course, from handling moderation at Facebook, to high-end security consultants.

I know our contractors have a super bright yellow badge that could blind your eyes.

 

[Just Jeff]

I'm so shocked that Apex would be like this. Not!

 

[blinkytoo]

A new report out today by Bloomberg offers a look inside one of Apple's so-called "black sites," this one a satellite office near Apple Park in California where the company hires contractors to work on Apple Maps. These contract workers were hired by Apex Systems, which staffs and manages a few Apple mapping offices, and creates a "culture of fear" according to former employees.

One former worker at the black site near Apple Park, on Hammerwood Avenue in Sunnyvale, said that "it was made pretty plain to us that we were at-will employees and they would fire us at any time." Most workers at the office signed up for 12-15 month work contracts, but many didn't make it that long.

Image via David Paul Morris/Bloomberg​

To hire workers, sources referred to "aggressive" messaging received via LinkedIn. Apex Systems browses the social network to find people with proficiency in mapping-related skills, and then "messages them repeatedly." Former workers then say Apex uses the revelation that the job will be for Apple as a way to tip potential employees over the edge and easily hire them.

Former workers described a poor work environment with understocked vending machines, long lines for men's bathrooms due to a predominantly male workforce, and restrictions on using the bathrooms designated for full-time Apple employees. To protect Apple's secrets, management instructed employees to enter the building through the back door every day, and to walk several blocks away from the building before calling for a ride home at the end of the day.
Many workers who took the contract jobs did so because Apex played up the possibility of landing full-time work with Apple down the line, but chances for this turned out to be small. At the same time, many other workers agreed to the contract work to have Apple on their resume, but even that wasn't a possibility.

At first, they could put "Apple, via Apex Systems" as their employer on sites like LinkedIn, but then in the summer of 2018 Apex instructed all workers to remove the word "Apple" and to describe their employer as "A Major Tech Company Via Apex Systems."

These differences between contract workers and full-time employees have led to what some sources called a caste system within Apple.
The Hammerwood office is managed by Apex, not Apple, and in a surprise audit on the staffing company, Apple said it found a work environment consistent with other Apple locations. According to an Apple spokesperson, "Like we do with other suppliers, we will work with Apex to review their management systems, including recruiting and termination protocols, to ensure the terms and conditions of employment are transparent and clearly communicated to workers in advance."

In November 2018, Apex changed the maximum amount of paid annual sick time from 48 to 24 hours, leading to a protest as over a dozen contractors said they had suddenly fallen ill and left work. Around the same time, Apex suddenly fired about two dozen people. Eventually, many remaining employees left Apex permanently and moved onto contract work at other companies that had better benefits for these workers, including Facebook and Google.

One former Apple contractor who worked under Apex, Amber Lutsko, was one of the workers who quit before her contract was up because of the company's questionable practices. Even now, a few months after she stopped working for Apex, the company's recruiters still find her through LinkedIn and send her messages about potential employment with a can't-be-named silicon valley company.

Other former contractors report the same, even ones who were fired by Apex: "You got rid of me because of my quote-unquote performance, and every three months I get these emails," says one of them. "It's insulting, honestly."

Head to Bloomberg to read the full report: What It's Like To Work Inside Apple's 'Black Site'

Article Link: New Report Delves Into Poor Working Conditions at an Apple Maps 'Black Site'

[doublepost=1549903082][/doublepost]Apple treats contractors like dirt. A good friend worked on high end graphics for Apple atone of the black sites at the corner of DeAnza and Stevens Creek. They refused to let him take any vacation days or any days off even though he ask 3 months in advance.

 

[ksec]

If you read the summary, you would know they aren't apple employees. Apple outsources their map work to a no name company. Now we know why apple maps still sucks.

Um...... If you actually read what I wrote. I asked what were their Job Duties, There are many moving parts in Apple Maps, not all Apple Maps are outsourced.

 

[Baymowe335]

Can't read? They are timing how long you are away from your computer and taking it against you.

And? Welcome to having a job.
[doublepost=1549903516][/doublepost]

Are you?

Completely. Toughen up. Lots of people agreed with me.

 

[Greymacuser]

An Apple building where the workers are dehumanized to the Nth degree?
How out of character for Timmy Kook's sweatshop Inc.
At least they didn't have to install nets outside the windows for all the people that try to commit suicide, like Apple in China has to.
When people would rather eat pavement than work for you, then you know you're 12 kinds of evil.

 

[guzhogi]

Kind of reminds me of my school district. Worked in a school where an administrator said that there was no way some of the water pipes would burst. Come the 2014 polar vortex, and they burst. Another administrator said she had a sensitive nose and couldn't detect any mold. School closed for 2 weeks, and had 20 years worth of mold removed. The district held a referendum to build a new school to replace this one. Several community members said that there are other places that had worse mold problems but were kept open. Had to make a bunch of budget cuts due to infrastructure at the other schools not properly maintained.

The high school district we feed into is going to referendum, again because the administration didn't pay for proper facilities maintenance. If it fails, they're going to cut things like yearbook and football. Some argue football isn't that important to the academics. Others argue how dare they cut football.

Just tired of companies & people not wanting to put in the money to properly maintain places. Plus all the people who are like "C'est la vie" and don't try to improve things.

 

[az431]

These MR articles seem to be getting sillier and sillier. Whats next an article on the high turnover rate of high-school aged employees at McDonalds?

Company lies to attract employees, company fires employees when it doesn't need them anymore. In other news, glass breaks when dropped.

Also, the article refers to them as "Apple contractors," when it is clear they are not.

 

[MoreRumors?]

A new report out by Bloomberg? Isn't this how Bloomberg runs his office with strict micromanaging?

 

[BuddyTronic]

People can be so soft these days.

There are far worse conditions than a freaking office, lol. Understocked vending machines? Lines in the bathroom? Are they serious?

Also, to me this seems like the company is “Apex”, and not “Apple”.

 

[albebaubles]

tell them to pack their things and please exit the building, escorted by security.

Apple pays these staffing companies comparable to what they pay internal staff, and then those staffing companies (Volt, I'm looking at you), take almost half, and leave you with $15-$17 per hour, with no commission.

All the while, they dangle this carrot of "If you do well, Apple will hire you directly". In my two contracts of a year and a half total, I saw probably 3 people get hired out of 600 contractors that were utilized during that period.

Sorry, but this is how 'contracting' always has been. I hate that term and prefer 'consultant' which is neither here nor there i suppose.

Intel operates exactly this way -- blue badge versus green badges -- security goes through your bags as you enter/exit the building - and if you get caught on a green badge aisle as a consultant you'll be escorted out.

Of course FTEs dislike consultants -- they are a direct threat.

Finally, if you're letting a firm pull 50% off the bill rate you need to work on your negotiation skills.

 

[tennisproha]

I work in a significantly more hostile and toxic environment. If you can't deal, look for a job elsewhere, and put that you worked for Apple on your resume.

They can’t put Apple on their resume. Did you read the article?
[doublepost=1549906438][/doublepost]This is typical of ****** contractors. They just want the money from Apple, how they treat employees doesn’t matter to them. And they will straight up lie to the employees to get what they want.

 

[User_E]

Wow, they get paid sick time at all?

California law requires it.

 

[sirozha]

Interesting - the folks on here saying,"Just get another job.", are right in there with the same folks who say, "Buy some other product.", if you complain about Apple's design and QC issues of late. If Apple condones this kind of treatment by contractors in the U.S., just imagine what must go on in China, where most of their products are manufactured. To read this kind of stuff combined with all the social platitudes enunciated by Apple's leadership is a bit much. Asking a company to stock vending machines, provide adequate restroom facilities, and refrain from excessive monitoring of employees isn't out of line. These are people, not cattle. These sorts of conditions are cause for a new labor movement. The demise of labor unions, which began under Reagan nearly 40 years ago, has led to the current predicament rampant among corporations - lousy working conditions, low benefits, low pay. But yeah, just get another job.
[doublepost=1549896972][/doublepost]
That's a machine containing food which you can purchase with what little money you make from companies like this. If you aren't going to stock it, why put it there?

I think they are expecting free access to vending machines. In any case, empty vending machines is not the main problem there.
[doublepost=1549906928][/doublepost]

In 30 years I have never worked for a company that did not act like this. And yet we don't have the will in this country to do anything about it.

I can tell you one of the main reasons for it. You lose your job and you lose your health coverage along with other benefits.

Universal healthcare would allow us to have at least some sense of security and have a better job mobility because our health coverage would not depend on the employer. It would also allow us to get paid better because the employers would not have to cover 3/4 of our health premiums, which is at this point is about $1,000 per employee (with family) per month. Employers get to deduct this from their taxes, but still, they end up being on the hook for probably $9,000 per year. Americans who currently get health insurance through their employers could on average get an $8,000 per year raise if we had universal healthcare in the US.

We would have to pay higher taxes because we would be paying our universal healthcare coverage fees in taxes, but we would still end up on top because our universal healthcare costs would be a fraction of the current private insurance premiums. We would probably get a net of $3,000 to $4,000 more once we pay extra in taxes.

Offloading the burden of providing health insurance coverage by employers to the universal health coverage would also benefit employers, as they would no longer have the extra burden of having to provide health coverage for their employees. Especially small business would benefit from the publicly funded universal healthcare. There would be more small businesses with more opportunities for others to work for better wages.

Mind you, I'm not a democrat or a socialist. I'm a red-blooded conservative who wants to have a less expensive healthcare that covers more people. Removing fiscal waste from various systems and making them more efficient is a conservative imperative. Removing unnecessary burdens from business owners, such as providing healthcare to the employees, also qualifies for a conservative approach.

 

[H3boy]

So a bunch of millennial liberals get a taste of what a real job is like. Whaaaa