Faced with increasing dissatisfaction by retail store employees over pay rates, and banking an embarrassment of cash and store revenues, Apple has granted substantial pay raises for store employees, in some cases up to 25 percent. The one-time pay hikes coincide with routine, annual performance-based pay raises that are being granted three months earlier than usual, and which range from five percent to eight percent of an employee’s pay. The new pay rates provide additional income for the store workers, but do not put them beyond the range of others in the retail industry, who are typically classified as middle-income workers. The raises may help to settle grumbling by workers that began at least two years ago, at about the time Apple’s revenues, profit and cash holdings began to draw investor admiration. Despite that increased success and riches, store employees felt they weren’t being rewarded for their work to make Apple a runaway success. Instead, they were being paid at rates basically established in 2001 when the chain was founded.
While an hourly wage is not the only compensation that Apple store employees receive, it’s the the most commonly-used benchmark of worker reward. Apple provides other benefits, including a health insurance package for full-time and some part-time employees. The company has the usual vacation and sick leave programs, and offers a charitable donation matching program. Employees, their family and friends can purchase Apple products at a discount, and the company reportedly just extended the Employee Purchase Program (EPP) to include extra discounts on Macs and iPads.
When the retail stores marked their 10th anniversary in May 2011, the company’s financial success became more clear, and that the retail stores were a major contributor to that success. Over the last five years, the stores have contributed from 12 percent to 20 percent of the company’s quarterly revenues, and from 10 percent to 33 percent of its quarterly profits. Those figures resonated with the retail store employees, who wondered if they deserved more rewards. Their questions about pay eventually found their way to Apple’s executives.
Apple continuously surveys its employees on-line as part of its NetPromoter evaluation process. The same survey process is used to survey customers who have purchased a product at the retail stores. A key question in both surveys is whether the taker would recommend Apple to a friend or family member. When the stores first opened, Apple’s NetPromoter score for customers was reportedly 42. Now, however, the score consistently hovers around 70 for customers, but it’s unknown what the employee score is.
Another section of the internal employee survey asks for free-text feedback, which is where Apple has reportedly been receiving complaints about pay rates. The survey also asks employees about the effectiveness of various forms of recognition the company gives employees.
Meanwhile, over the past four years Apple has continued to accumulate a huge amount of cash holdings, and at an increased rate (chart below). The company’s executives, including Steve Jobs while he was still CEO, repeatedly answered stockholder questions about the cash, but said, “It’s not burning a hole in our pocket.” But last March the company finally relented, and announced a stock dividend and repurchase program that would pay out about $45 billion over three years. However, the program didn’t answer retail employee complaints that they weren’t being rewarded for the company’s success.
The chain’s original Sr. VP of the retail stores, Ron Johnson, left the company last November, and Apple hired John Browett of the UK-based Dixons electronics chain to replace him. Browett took the full reigns of the stores last April, and inherited the employee dissatisfaction over pay. He has written email letters to the employees at least twice, but made no mention of pay in either message. Finally, last week word leaked out publicly that annual raises would be given early and that a one-time raise would also be included.
Those pay raises were announced to employees over the past week during individual meetings with managers. The exact amounts of the annual performance pay raise and the one-time hike were not disclosed to the employees. Instead, the employees were simply told what their new rate of pay will be, without any percentage mentioned. According to sources, the performance increase was in the usual range of five percent to eight percent, and the one-time increase was in the 10 percent to 15 percent range.
Pay rates for each retail store job position are entirely secret, even to Apple’s retail workers, and can vary by a manager’s discretion within a certain range for employees seemingly in the same job situation.
Store employee Cory Moll heads the Apple Retail Workers Union (ARWU), dedicated to improving working conditions within the chain. He’s a 4½-year employee who nows works as a Specialist in the “red zone” of a store selling products. He has publicly posted that his pay went from $14.49 per hour to $17.31, or about a 19.5 percent increase.
But beyond Moll’s public posting, a list of retail store pay rates is scarce. In 2004 the now-defunct Web site ThinkSecret posted a complete list that shows Apple had four compensation plans, corresponding to the cost of living in various markets where the stores were located. Plan 3 was considered “average,” and and the other three compensation plans were percentages above or below those pay rates.
For example, Plan 4 was for smaller markets, and its pay rates were set 7.5 percent lower than Plan 3. Plan 2 was for mid-sized markets, and was set eight percent higher. Lastly, Plan 1 was for the largest markets, and was set at 12 percent higher than Plan 3.
Many of the job positions have changed since 2004, but in general, a Specialist back then was receiving from $6.00 an hour in the smallest markets, up to $7.20 an hour in the largest. The federal minimum wage at the time was $5.15 per hour. Download (pdf) the original 2004 pay rate table for more information.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage for full-time retail sales personnel in the United States is $12.08.
Update: On June 30th the Apple Retail Workers Union posted the results of an on-line survey about the raise:
- Red Zone Specialists reported on average a 28% raise, or about $2.89.
- Back of House Specialists reported 22.5% average, or about $2.44.
- Family Room Specialists reported 19.4% average, or about $2.86.
- Genii reported 15% average, or about $2.41.
- Creatives reported 9% average, or about $1.51.
- Experts reported 12.6% average, or about $1.98.
This chart attracted the attention of retail store employees, who saw Apple’s cash and retail revenues increase over the past five years, but without an adjustment to the basic hourly wage schedule for employees.
This screen from an internal Apple retail store employee survey gathers information about job satisfaction. Other screens asks for additional feedback, including a free-text box where employees reportedly criticized pay rates. This same basic “recommend” survey question is asked of customers who provide on-line feedback after a purchase.
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{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
I can’t help but think that this is in part response to the efforts of speaking out publicly through ARWU, and through the messages sent by employees via various channels including NetPromoter. This is a big, big step forward toward recognizing the value that we as workers contribute to the company. However, there is still much yet to be done…
Get off it Moll. The only place that the ARWU exists is you and your friends (if you have any). You don’t represent every employee and any changes that occur have zero to do with you and your hot air blowing big mouth. I’m actually shocked that you haven’t been fired for stunts like revealing your pay raise. I suppose they are waiting for you to screw up and score enough points to get fired on attendance violations because they don’t want to deal with you whining and trying to claim union protection for your non existence union.
You and your ego give Apple employees a bad name. Please for the love of Mike STFU.
Four words:
National Labor Relations Act.
Even if that didn’t exist, I’m brave enough not to hide.
Haha! Way to go, Cory. So nice to see you try and take credit for the recent raises. I totally agree with “Actual Employee”; ARWU is a total farce that exists on a completely half-assed website as well as in your delusions of grandeur. If you allegedly have so many disgruntled ARS employees within your reach, why don’t you actually DO SOMETHING. I think many of us are tired of your predictable appearance when issues come up in the stores. Quit taking credit for the work of others.
It’s been widely reported about the success of the team at Rosenstraße. They have formed a labour council with the backing of Ver.di (www.verdi.de) and have already won big for their team, including a salary increase that exceeds what has been reported.
So, “do something?” It’s happening. Individual stores have to do this themselves; it’s how I intended this to work from the get-go. I’m simply demonstrating that such action is possible if enough workers are motivated enough. I just happen to be one, and also vocal.
I’m far too eager for anyone else to step up here and add their voice.
What, exactly, is “happening”, Cory? Germany: big deal. The system in Europe is completely different than what exits in the US. Even you are smart enough to know that. Your demonstration of “action” is weak and ineffectual; your alleged union has a paltry 1,200 followers on social media. If you truly were the voice of all the pent up frustrations of ARS employees, I would imagine that you would have a more substantial following, as those followers would clearly be aligned with your thoughts, feelings and statements. As it is, you represent a disaffected and entitled microcosm of the 47,000 ARS employees world wide. So again, I suggest you actually DO SOMETHING beyond showboating and invoking the NLRA of 1935; we are all familiar with the act, but it’s the actions that speak louder than the words you continue to spray onto the page.
Responding to trolls clearly isn’t getting anywhere, so I’m gonna move on now. That’s doing something.
Match point. When the going gets tough, the millennials give up. Way to represent your generation, Cory. I think we can all see why ARWU is such an abject failure: it’s would-be leader is unwilling or unable to truly defend his position, and resorts to name calling.
What about the outsourced AppleCare employees?
I am a Lead in the Family Room, and was scored (4) – Significant Contributor, yet my increase was only 6%. I think the raise is really to address Red Zone pay/merits. Sadly, for those of us in the FR, we are still making what we were making before, with a yearly bump. Case in point, I agree Cory, there’s a lot more to be done.
seems like the merit increase is just bringing up the newest staff who came in on a lower pay rate. in line with the people who have put time in at the store’s. But i can tell you this, if it was hard before to get a job at apple retail with the new merit increase I sure as hell know its going to be even more difficult now.
Hopefully management start to rethink the hiring process. Over the last 2 years the standard has been quantity over quality.
It could also be due to certain states raising their minimum wage. It’s not uncommon for companies to raise pay in such cases to keep pay in line with the minimum+x offer that was originally made.
What’s is sad is all the people who left apple already do to low pay who are the ones who earned these raises. I am sorry but if you work at the store 1 years or less you are standing on the shoulders of some amazing people who paved the way with their sweet and tears. Apple should send a thank you bonus to all of those former employees who busted their tails and made such a sad wage.
As a former sales person who sold 1.2 million of Apple products dollars myself back in 06, 10% of the store sales, attach rates across the board above 80% and made 12 bucks an hour its about time they step up. Steve was not concerned about his staff and the propaganda at the retail was sick. However when its all said and done people are still going to be underpaid for their contributions. I sure management will have some fun dishing out raises to some but not others for lame propaganda reasons.
However the 230,000 of apple stock I now have makes up for the low pay but it was my foresight to buy all the stock I did and drop 16% of my check every week including 401K which put me around 260,000 so it was not easy but I earned that big time! FYI I work back in the day when stock was under 20 a share. Might of bought some around the teens if I remember correctly…
Good luck to you all and well deserved raise!
Sounds like you are a wise person. The pay from a retail career won’t generally make you rich, but Apple does do things other retailers don’t to help you live well in the long run. Don’t sell, they say it could go to $1000 if the banker class doesn’t destroy the financial world first.
You assholes are all on crack. I paid my specialists more in 2008 than I can pay my dep’t managers now at the current retailer where I’m the store manager.
apple2apple – ONLY 6%?!? Who the hell makes more than a 6% increase in this economy unless you’re on Wall St. or a senior exec in a big company? You’ve got some truly big balls to come out with that statement.
Get in tune with reality folks – it’s Apple, but it’s still retail. If you’re going to be in retails doing sales or service (and not management) it’s still the best gig around, including the pay. Stop sounding so damned entitled, as if you’re somehow the 1%. Knuckleheads.
Let’s give Cory the benefit of the doubt, that his intentions are good. He wants all Apple employees to be well paid. But the recent changes are due to changes in senior management at Apple, not due to the actions of Cory’s group. Let’s face it – Steve Jobs was not overly generous when it came to the retail teams. There’s a new direction which is unfolding and it includes more than base salaries and discounts. For a retail entity, these are massive and unprecedented! It’s time to be grateful for what is coming, especially in this economic environment. The sense of entitlement is beyond rational. I’d love to see a list of other companies which are doing what Apple is doing for their employees in this economy.
Well said.
All empires fall, people are a bunch of sadistic assholes, I hope the world ends come dec 21st.
Also Cory, good try, you clearly failed, so please take it all down and don’t bother, your not accomplishing anything.
I used to work for Apple retail and the pay for non-management employees was a joke. When I joined the company, the minimum wage was about $8.75/hr and I started off at $12/hr. Being young and desperate to leave my other crappy job and looking for a better way to earn money while in University I jumped at the opportunity. But things quickly turned sour, the minimum wage in my jurisdiction went up to $10.25 and new hires were soon coming in making $14/hr. Management refused to adjust the wages of those who joined the company when the minimum wage was $8.75 and expected us to train these new employees. In addition, even if we obtained a perfect score on our performance review, there was a cap on raises so even if you were entitled to the maximum raise possible, we still would not be on par with the new hires.
Apple also does not pay any bonuses or commissions to sales staff as they claim it fosters a competitive culture that would negatively affect teamwork. This was such BS, as the sales pressure at Apple was so intense that it felt like we worked in a commission only environment, except we didn’t get paid commission. Sales associates resorted to the most unethical and desperate tactics in order to hit their sales numbers. Sales associates would deliberately charge customers for services such as Applecare without telling customers and hoping they wouldn’t notice until after the return period expired. The most popular tactic that sales associates employed during a computer sale with no add-ons was to pretend your easypay was broken and use the traditional POS to ring in the sale so that the sale can be registered under another employee’s name.
After three and a half years of working with Apple, I finally had enough with the management and the unethical behaviour that my colleagues resorted to in order to achieve their metrics. Most importantly, there was absolutely no work life balance. I was a student at that time and Apple did not recognize that, as a top performing employee they expected me to be available at all times, and I was always given attitude by management when I attempted to book time off for exams. I decided to leave Apple, and I received at a retail job with a cell phone provider that sells the iPhone. My new job paid only $10.75 an hour, only a bit above minimum wage, but the commission structure was amazing and I was also entitled to health and dental benefits, something that Apple did not offer to part time employees at the time. Selling an iPhone at Apple would net me absolutely nothing, but at my new job it would net me up to $30 per sale. After a full year of working at my new job, essentially doing the same tasks that I did at Apple, I earned the same annual income that I earned at Apple while working HALF the amount of hours. This allowed me with much more time to focus on my undergraduate studies. In addition, my new job had sales incentives all the time where we could win gifts and cash prizes that were often valued at over $100. As someone who was not even a top sales rep, I had won over $1500 worth of prizes in one year. At Apple, I was a top sales performer and the number of sales incentives they had within my 3 and half years of service would equal the number of incentives we had in one month at my new job.
My decision to leave Apple was definitely one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I still have friends who work there and they all tell me how the work environment is so toxic because everyone hates their job. This company really does take advantage of people’s excitement to work for such an iconic brand, but that wears off real fast when you realize how overworked and underpaid you are. Even with whatever pitiful raise Apple is giving their employees right now, I still would never have stayed.
You are a 1000% correct here. Well said… now that Steve (steve never really cared about others, he just tolerated them because he had too) is gone maybe it will get better. It will have to because its a really hard job to do well. People are giving there life to this company and they are not willing to compensated them for that period! Apple need to retain top talent because one day they truly might need it when the well runs dry.
For all those who think this is an easy job, the facts are most of you couldn’t even make it in the door let alone being able to handle all the daily task that need to be accomplished. Arm chair Apple employee!
Tim if you ever read this please, please help your people out. They are suffering! Reward them for real and reward and the 1000′s who built this place to begin with.
I’ve been working at Apple for almost a year. I’m sorry that some of you have had bad experiences with your store, sensing a “toxic environment” and overall not enjoying what you do. It’s definitely a good thing that you were able to branch out and enjoy your new careers, and I wish you all the best. My experience at Apple has been amazing. I started at $13/hour, and with the recent merit raise I’m making almost $17/hour now as a part time specialist. I love my co-workers and managers, and I’m one of the top 10 performers at my store. Some might say it’s cultish and that there is pressure to deliver good results all the time, but personally I haven’t had that experience. It’s been a year and I still love going to work every day, and I could definitely see it as a great full time job opportunity for at least a few years while I develop professional skills.
I wish all of you the best in your future endeavors, and look forward to continuing to serve Apple and give back to the company that has already treated me so well.
Well if what you say is true its not common place for sure.
I don’t agree with your having a good experience and making 17 a hour in less than a year. I worked at Apple for over 7 years and started at 9.35 an hour and eventually got up to 20 but when I went to part time they cut my pay by 35% and said I made to much money for a part timer! Who does that? Cut someone pay for doing the same job just not as many hours?
Now my manager was a ass hole and so was the regional dick as well so maybe that has something to do with it but my experience was common at our store.
You must be greasing the wheels to get that so quickly…
I worked for Apple over 7 years as well and had my pay cut and capped. I moved to what they considered a less expensive market (transferred between stores) and had my pay cut 20%. Earned a promotion and got ’4′s on some raises and within a few years got back to where I started. Then they determined my pay was capped based on my position/market so after about 5 years my raise on a review of a 4 would be a little over 1%. About the cost of an iPod per year. In almost 8 years I ended up making about $2000 more than when I started – I got on pretty early so was making OK money.
Thankfully I bought stock. Unfortunately I dipped into it several times. My own fault to be sure, but when your pay hasn’t kept up with inflation it gets tougher and tougher to get by every year.
We too were always happy for, but a bit envious of, those who got ‘real jobs’. Eventually I finally got a ‘real job’ and couldn’t be happier. My store got “gapified” anyhow. I was on a track to do a lot of cool stuff outside the store but ended up with one of those Gap Managers who didn’t know how to manage Apple employees. Our store had a turnover of almost the entire Genius team within a year and a half of him coming on board. He brought in his own people from surrounding Gap stores. My career stalled around that time. Top performing store but no management backing = nowhere to go at Apple.
I’ve been to that store one time since I left and while the people working there are nice, the team is nowhere at the level of the people who opened it. The new guys and gals are nice college kids. Young and unexperienced. They all learned how to repair Macs on the job. The new lead Genius had never even owned a Mac and reportedly failed his Mac certification tests several times. But the managers liked him so it didn’t really matter. Too bad Apple couldn’t find a way to hold on to the talented people they brought on in the early days.
Can’t really blame “Apple” I think when the stores opened the vision was truly a grand vision. But once you’re successful and turn into just another retail store with just more retail managers it’s bound to just become another retail job.
For those who say if people don’t like the job, then leave, keep on saying that until the quality of help is so poor you no longer get the good customer service you’re used do. There’s a burn rate for quality help and I think it’s getting faster and faster.
There were a lot of good times though. A lot of good times.
5-8% for performance??? I’ve never seen anybody get more than 4% And we were all told that the 4% was a special thing… and not to tell anybody we got such a high increase.
Sam- I’m not greasing any wheels. The raise this year is gigantic for specialists because they are recognizing the many hats we wear on the floor, and Tim cook is putting more money into retail. Your average specialist will likely start at around $15/hour now. Of course it depends on your cost of living, etc, but I know I’m not the only one who’s making much better money now. All the best.
Simply put, the job is in retail, and they get paid retail wages. Any one of us can eventually find somewhere that acknowledges our skill sets, and pays accordingly. Remember not to glamorize the mall job, because that’s all it was. The sad part is, they advertise as anything but. They push the importance of their people, but don’t actually care. They understand the value of people’s passions, but want you to muzzle it and sell.
Bottom line, the reason for the incentives and the raises are because of the mass exodus of employees, finally realizing their worth outside of a retail shop.
You guys do realize that most other people in retail start at WAY lower rates of pay for companies just as big as Apple, right? I just can from a management position where I made less than I do as a specialist. I understand company financial reserves are deep and sales are high but retail is still retail.
UK Genius here, approaching year five in my store (started as an external hire) and I got a 10.55% bump ths year, taking me to $30.79 an hour; all said, it’s a damned nice wage, but Cost of Living within the UK (at least, in my market) is astronomical.
old article. I got a nice raise. Guess what? Full time is now defined as 38 hours/wk. Over the course of a month the company effectively, by not allowing us to work, steals a full 8 hours BACK from every full time employee.