In a new article posted by The New York Times over the weekend, Apple's contributions to the United States workforce and economy are highlighted with a focus on the company's campus in Austin, Texas. Some of its 6,000 employees there (grown from 2,100 seven years ago) were interviewed, providing a glimpse into the employment lifestyle Apple offers its staff members.

The central occupation of the workers in Austin is customer tech support, but there's also employees who manage Apple's network of suppliers, run iTunes and the App Store, update Maps, and keep tabs on Apple's finances. The average income for a call center worker at the Austin campus is $30,000 a year, but following the completion of a one-year contract many become permanent employees and earn $45,000 per year, "plus generous benefits and small annual stock grants."

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According to Apple, factoring in senior management staff, the average salary of its Austin staff is $77,000 a year. Although the company didn't tell The New York Times any of its future expansion plans for the U.S., it reiterated on its contributions to the country's workforce, with the iPhone as a launch pad for its employment boost.

“Apple has created over two million jobs in the United States since the introduction of the iPhone nine years ago, including explosive growth in iOS developers, thousands of new supplier and manufacturing partners, and a 400 percent increase in our employee teams,” the company said in a statement. “We made the unique decision to keep and expand our contact centers for customers in the Americas in the United States, and Austin is home to many of those employees. We plan to continue to invest and grow across the U.S.”

In the call center, the entry-level positions open up major possibilities for quality workers later on. One worker, Genny Lopez, began as a basic contractor answering customer calls, and is now on staff fielding and troubleshooting more difficult problems. "You don’t need a crazy technical background to do this job," Lopez said. "A lot of the training is getting really good at talking to people."

In Austin, Apple is also said to encourage employees to test out other team environments, "to allow workers to try a completely different role for six months to see if it suits them and the company." The New York Times met with Brisa Carillo, who was one of the test pilots for the team-switching idea, and found out that she began work at Apple in its call center right after college, but now handles the company's international payroll while she studies for her M.B.A. to continue to move up the ranks of Apple's finance department. A formal program backing the progressive idea is on track to be instituted soon.

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Image via The New York Times

Apple prides itself on providing top-notch phone service in 26 languages — 12 are spoken at the Texas call center alone — and the people who handle the calls are expected to follow up on any problem that cannot be quickly resolved. During the recent visit, Stephanie Dumareille, a senior adviser on iOS issues who is fluent in English and Spanish, patiently answered questions from a customer who was worried about saving her résumé online and did not know whether she was using a Windows or a Mac computer.

Much of The New York Times' article is a response to critics, including President-elect Donald Trump, who believe Apple should move its manufacturing plants into the United States to improve its contribution to jobs within the country. A report from last week claimed that Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron to look into making iPhones stateside, a request which Foxconn is allegedly studying closely.

Apple's investment in and nurturing of its employees makes up for its lack of product manufacturing stateside, according to Lopez, who said that at the Austin campus "the product that Apple builds here is us."

Check out the full story by The New York Times here.

Tag: Austin

Top Rated Comments

levitynyc Avatar
96 months ago
Most of them selling crappy accessories and repair services.

Let's also not forget the developers that just rip off IPs trying to make a buck.

How about putting some of those of billions in untaxed cash back in circulation?
[doublepost=1479735069][/doublepost]Also, call center work is hell on earth.

I used to recruit for them. It's awful. People hate it and quit before lunch on their first day.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zirel Avatar
96 months ago
Oh Tim Cook, don't you understand that this is every American kid dream job?



Sounds like a fun job!

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djcerla Avatar
96 months ago
Most of them selling crappy accessories and repair services.

Let's also not forget the developers that just rip off IPs trying to make a buck.

Also, call center work is hell on earth.

I used to recruit for them. It's awful. People hate it and quit before lunch on their first day.
Yeah. No job at all is a much better condition.

How about putting some of those of billions in untaxed cash back in circulation?
the fact that Apple is the largest tax payer in the world may be completely unrelated.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jerry16 Avatar
96 months ago
Most of them selling crappy accessories and repair services.

Let's also not forget the developers that just rip off IPs trying to make a buck.

How about putting some of those of billions in untaxed cash back in circulation?
[doublepost=1479735069][/doublepost]Also, call center work is hell on earth.

I used to recruit for them. It's awful. People hate it and quit before lunch on their first day.
How many jobs have you created?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kdarling Avatar
96 months ago
Apple has created over two million jobs in the United States since the introduction of the iPhone nine years ago, including explosive growth in iOS developers, thousands of new supplier and manufacturing partners,
Sure. Two million.

As we found out last time, Apple takes credit even for truck plant assembly workers. This is because they use delivery services in the US, and those services use trucks. Ditto for airplane workers.

By that standard, I guess most of us can take credit for all the workers assembling cars, drilling for and refining oil, making car parts, police employment, road workers, etc :rolleyes:

Another big bunch they lay claim to are hundreds of thousands of iOS developers. That's fair, except that the overwhelming majority do not make a living wage from that "job"... if anything at all.

A report from last week claimed that Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron to look into making iPhones stateside, a request which Foxconn is allegedly studying closely.
The Flextronics CEO said that when Moto assembled the custom Moto X in their Texas factory, it only added $8-$10 per unit to the cost, over doing it overseas... and even some of that was reclaimed by not having to ship the final units to the USA for US customers.

So bringing work stateside, even just for US bound devices, depends on how much Apple is willing to give up out of their profit margin. It wouldn't have to be that much. Or heck, if they won't give up a dime, then they could even charge $10 extra for a Made In America version.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
96 months ago
Yeah. No job at all is a much better condition.
Agreed. A job is a job is a job. It's an opportunity, and according to the article, it's a stepping stone to other possibilities. Not sure how someone could find fault with it.


the fact that Apple is the largest tax payer in the world may be completely unrelated.
Agree again. It is completed unrelated. I just wish people would stop using that "largest tax payer in the world" snipet for anything... at all. It's deflective and deceptive and a perfect example of corporate speak that makes me want to punch a kitten. No one should ever parrot this drivel as if it has any meaning beyond an attempt to side step an issue. /rant over
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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