Apple Hiring Fewer 'Genius' Employees at Some Retail Locations

Maybe it's me - but I find the line of "Greeters" at the entrance of the store to be very off-putting/intimidating. I just want to walk-in and check out the stuff and will approach if I need further assistance/ready to buy.

Maybe it's me - but I find the line of "Greeters" at the entrance of the store to be very off-putting/intimidating. I just want to walk-in and check out the stuff and will approach if I need further assistance/ready to buy.

Same -- it feels like going through Airport Security just to come in.

I want to walk in and poke around & not be bothered.
Why they think we all want to be accosted by blue shirts is beyond me.

It's pretty obvious who the employees are (they are everywhere!) -- we can find them if we need them.

It honestly stops me from going into the store if I happen to walk by at the mall.
Just don't want to have that interaction and dismissal process to simply come in.

Not good

The quality of the geniuses, in my experience, has been going down for a decade.

Hiring less of them and/or saving costs around this point are all big negatives.

I don't have any privileged info about Apple. However, I am an ex-retailer and I think the most likely reason for not refilling the "Genius" ranks at some Apple Stores is not part of some widespread conspiracy or the inevitable outcome of a particular economic system. Instead, it is probably in response to current store traffic patterns and individual store sales trends.

In retailing, one of the few costs that can be changed in the very short term–days and weeks–is hourly staffing levels. Most other costs, including inventory, rent, utilities, and salaries are fixed and won't vary much whether a store is open or closed. So when sales are not at the levels predicted when hiring hourly employees and when issuing work schedules, store managers have to reduce staffing expenditures. Unprofitable stores aren't good for anybody because they end up closing permanently.

Personally, I think there are a lot of problems with how the retail industry manages and treats its workers (this is why I'm no longer a retailer). But fixing these problems will require massive changes in public policy, consumer expectations, corporate priorities, and how retailing companies are financed.

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ETA: the first part of this post sounds somewhat disconnected to the discussion that precedes it because I was responding to claims in posts that have since been removed.

Don't really need Genius's around when Apple can simply swap out your device with a new one under warranty. Many times they have told me to contact Apple support directly via online.

Because it doesn’t take a ”genius” to swap out An iPhone or fix the massive majority of problems that John Q. Public has with their stuff. Id bet that 10 percent of what they do is working on Macs which takes much more skill. 90 percent is swapping iPhones and restarting devices or things like “your AirPods arent working because your Bluetooth is off”.