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Apple Retail Store Staff Set to Gain Raises of Up to 25%

Wednesday June 20, 2012 1:15 pm PDT by Eric Slivka
Earlier this week, Business Insider reported that all Apple retail store staff would be receiving raises of at least $4 per hour, a claim that the site later backpedaled from somewhat as other sources from the company's stores reported in to note that they had heard nothing of the sort.


But Dow Jones Newswires is now weighing in with its own claims that Apple is indeed raising staff pay by "as much as a quarter of their wages".
Employees began learning of the raises in face-to-face meetings with managers last week, according to three Apple employees in various regions across the U.S. The raises, which are based on performance, will begin appearing in paychecks around the middle of July, two of these people said. [...]

The overwhelming staff complaint during an internal review was wage levels, one employee said. Higher-level retail staff, such as its "Genius" tech support teams and "Creative" educational teams were among the most frustrated, this person said. At one store, another employee noted, a nearby competing Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) retail shop had begun poaching employees by offering promotions and higher wages.
The report notes that sales staff at Apple retail stores are currently paid between $9 and $15 per hour before the forthcoming raises are factored in, with Geniuses at the high end of the pay scale earning as much as $30 per hour.

It is unknown just how the raises will be distributed across staff and what proportion will be closer to the 25% end of the raise spectrum, but it is clear that Apple is making a significant effort to increase wages for its retail store workers in order to help retain staff and increase satisfaction amid booming sales and retail store traffic.

Tag: Apple retail
[ 252 comments ]


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nfl46
56 months ago
Well deserved. Apple stores are ALWAYS busy. I sometimes feel sorry that they have to put up with people's BS and busy traffic ALL day.

My bud is a genius. He better be treating me to a drink this weekend. Lol.
Rating: 49 Votes
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Tinyluph
56 months ago

Reminds me of foxconn. $9 p/h in America, shameful.


Sadly $9 is actually pretty good for a starting wage in retail in America.
Rating: 38 Votes
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Hakone
56 months ago
Kudos to Apple for taking care of their people.

The Apple store that I go to seem to have the friendliest staff I've ever dealt with.

:D
Rating: 19 Votes
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basesloaded190
56 months ago

Reminds me of foxconn. $9 p/h in America, shameful.


For a 16 year old kid trying to sell Apple products part-time, that isn't that bad. I never made $9/hour until I got to college.
Rating: 16 Votes
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foodog
56 months ago

Kudos to Tim Cook and Co. for stepping up. Retail employees have to deal with some pretty extreme customers on a daily basis. Nice to see them financially rewarded.


I saw one "lady" completely lose her mind at the Genius bar when she was returning her new iPhone. The Apple store employee wouldn't give her a refund for all the accessories she bought at an AT&T store because they were AT&T products. I even tried to reason with her. She just kept yelling until the manager finally just gave her the money. As she walked away he asked if any one wanted the cheap rubber case, no one spoke up and he threw it in the trash.
Rating: 16 Votes
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rumors-reader
56 months ago

Sadly this is true. The only thing any of the geniuses have ever done for me is swap out my broken iPhones.


Geniuses, in my experience, are an exceptional group. They do far more than just 'swap out your broken phone.' You may have been an excellent customer and not given them any grief, but I can tell you this is not the norm. An extraordinary amount of people come in with very aggressive attitudes and take it unjustly out on a Genius (e.g. iPhone dropped in water....angry this isn't covered under warranty).

Apple Retail employees, for all intents and purposes, are the face of Apple. Specialists for when a customer comes in to purchase a product, Geniuses when they have problems, Creatives when they come for training.

I think it's safe to say Apple Retail are there because they want to be and are proud to be employees of Apple.
Rating: 13 Votes
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lsvtecjohn3
56 months ago
Good for them
Rating: 10 Votes
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Medic311
56 months ago

A Genius only gets $30 an hour? Not sure why they do that over a systems admin job that would pay a lot more.


b/c you really don't need to be a genius, to be a Genius.

a systems admin job requires a lot more education, and many positions these days are contract / part-time without benefits. perhaps being a FT Genius with apple yields a more stable steady check (just a guess)
Rating: 10 Votes
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BornAgainApple
56 months ago
Kudos to Tim Cook and Co. for stepping up. Retail employees have to deal with some pretty extreme customers on a daily basis. Nice to see them financially rewarded.
Rating: 10 Votes
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Medic311
56 months ago
$9 / hr without a requirement to have graduated high school is pretty good. i worked at best buy when i was 16 and made $7.25...i thought that was pretty sick when my friends were making the minimum $5.75 at the time

but i'll remind people that education goes a long way. take the summer between 10th and 11th grade and go to EMT (emergency medical technician) school for 8 weeks, Monday-Thurs 8:30am-4:00pm. once you graduate, you not only will have offers, you will have over half a dozen offers and average starting now for EMTs is $15/hr in my area. the class costs $500 but if you agree to volunteer with a local rescue squad for 6 months (minimum 1 day per week, 8 hrs shift) they pay 100% of it.

don't get me wrong, working at Apple is a great gig compared to the ridiculous work environments of other retail companies.

a 25% raise, when you look closer, still is well under what most people are capable of even at that young age
Rating: 9 Votes

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