“If there is any company that can be said to be on the cutting edge of retail, it’s Apple,” Christopher Matthews reports for TIME Magazine. “Yes, the Most Profitable Company in the World has come to be one of the most admired names in business not only because of its irresistible products, but also because of the one-of-a-kind retail experience that the company offers its customers.”
“The secret of Apple Stores’ success has a lot to do with their staff as well. Apple specialists are friendly, laid-back and knowledgeable, and the customer service they offer is usually excellent. Since these employees play a part in driving Apple’s world-beating sales, it stands to reason that they should be appropriately compensated for their contribution,” Matthews reports. “Though there is a case to be made that labor isn’t getting its fair share of the capitalist pie these days, it’s tough to look at Apple retail employees and say they are specifically being exploited — especially when their case is compared with those of the millions of workers overseas who work just as hard as their American counterparts, and are just as integral to the success of the company but are forced to work for far less.”
Matthews reports, “The more easily addressable question is whether Apple is investing enough in its employees for its own good. And by reading Apple’s actions in the past few months, it’s clear that the company believes it needs to invest a little more… It is only recently that Apple has seen noteworthy increases in employee unhappiness as measured by their internal surveys, and Apple has responded recently by giving many of its hourly employees significant raises… It is difficult to create a retail-shopping experience that will separate you from the pack if you have underpaid and unhappy employees. And to this point, I don’t think it’s fair to say that Apple has this problem.”
Read more in the full article here.
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