Papers from a failed class action suit by Apple Store staff reveal that at least two retail employees complained directly to CEO Tim Cook about the policy of subjecting them to anti-theft bag checks before they left the store. Tim Cook forwarded the complaints to senior retail and HR executives, asking “Is this true?” …
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson has written to Apple CEO Tim Cook to urge the company to create “world-class working conditions” for low-paid contractors like security guards, requesting a meeting with Cook to discuss the issue, reports the San Jose Mercury News.
The paper reports a growing debate about the widespread use of contract workers by tech companies for low-paid roles, contract staff having none of the protections or perks afforded to direct employees …
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Business Insider did some trawling through the employee reviews site Glassdoor to find out what Apple employees love about working for the company.
Perhaps unsurprisingly in a company co-founded by a man who saw his mission as changing the world, the feeling that you have a chance to do just that topped the list. It’s the philosophy reflected in the memo Apple gave to new employees on their first day, saying that people who join the company want their work “to add up to something … something big … something that couldn’t happen anywhere else.”
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Photo: valuewalk.com
Apple dropped to only the 16th best tech company to work for, and 35th overall, in Glassdoor’s annual ranking of the 50 Best Palaces to Work – down from 3rd in tech and 10th overall last year.
Based on over half a million reviews written by employees, Apple took 35th place, with fifteen tech companies ahead of it in the list, with Twitter taking the top tech slot, and LinkedIn and Facebook completing the top three.
Fortune did some sampling of Apple employee reviews to give a sense of why the company didn’t rank more highly, with retail staff particularly critical.
- Creative (Apple Store): It’s busy. All. The. Time.
- Packaging Engineer: High stress, long hours, too much security.
- Genius: Difficult to move up. Interactions with customers can be trying. Understaffed and overworked. Hours can feel long and are inconvenient to a proper work life balance.
- Mac Specialist (Apple Store): Hard to internally grow into management. Too touchy-feely at times. Managers pulled in too many directions.
- Front End Engineer: Long hours during project launches and work/life balance takes a backseat at some points.
- Apple Solutions Consultant: You have no authority to make any real decisions but you are still required to make them.
- Senior Network Engineer: People always watching you. There are people that want to put you down. No respect for contractors. Tough work.
- Manager: Expect to deal with a lot of ambiguity and shift gears in the dark. Some in-between senior management are a disappointment.
Apple was, however, rated for offering “great pay at a highly admired company,” offering a “diverse set of challenges and products to work on” and having “many opportunities for career growth, technically and managerially.”
That’s a good number of users running an unreleased operating system in just a short amount of time. Of course it’s coming soon.
In addition to the email from Apple CEO Tim Cook to employees regarding the new iPhones, Apple VP of iOS and iPhone Marketing Greg Joswiak conducted a short Q/A session with employees about the development of the new products. Joswiak discusses innovation at Apple, his career, and the thinking behind the iPhone 5c. You can see more of the Q/A below:
Photo: Josh Lowensohn/CNET
Cory Moll, an Apple retail employee who founded an unofficial union for Apple Store staff, is leaving the company tomorrow, having apparently resigned.
Moll founded the ‘Apple Workers Union’ as a Facebook page and now-defunct website, describing it as “a movement of empowerment to bring change and improvement of working conditions to Apple’s retail stores” in response to what some employees felt to be low pay and limited opportunity for advancement.
Moll tweeted earlier today that tomorrow would be his final day. In an email to 9to5Mac and others, he said:
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