14 DAY TRIAL // Working for Apple is the dream of millions of teenagers and students out there, and most of the time, getting a job at an Apple Store is the closest they can get when it comes to being employed by the most valuable company in the world.
But becoming part of the Apple Store is no easy thing, and in a recent interview, a former Apple employee reveals why it’s not only hard to be part of the team but also dangerous.
Before anything, the employee who revealed all the details you’ll find below wanted to remain anonymous, mostly because Apple forces all workers to sign confidentiality agreements when joining the company. They are thus prohibited from disclosing anything after leaving.
No bonus for big contracts or promotion
First and foremost, it’s worth knowing that even if they work for Apple, the Store employees aren’t paid extremely well, as many of us would be tempted to believe.
They make approximately 7 pounds per hour (that’s around $11 or €10), and never get a bonus, no matter how big the sale they make. The worker explains that you can sign a contract worth 100,000 pounds, and you still get no bonus, but you might receive a handshake from a manager.
Getting a promotion is nearly impossible, he reveals, adding that most of the managers come from outside the company. Over four years, none of the in-store employees received a promotion to a leadership role, he explains, so Apple prefers to bring staff from other companies, rather than to give its own a chance to advance on its internal management ladder.
Employees are strictly forbidden from discussing salary with other members of the staff, and rumors about how much others are making are always spreading across the store. The only thing everyone gets is a discount on Apple shares and products, although many don’t even afford the devices they sell.
Frequent death threats
And yet, that’s not the worst part of the job. It appears that Apple Store employees often receive death threats, mostly because it takes too long to repair a device or because they can’t do it for free.
“About once a day I was called a bitch for not knowing how something worked. Once someone came in to complain about a device that wasn’t even an Apple product, but a third party accessory. I apologised for it not working and said I’d do my best to help him out, and he called me a ‘lazy [expletive]’ for not knowing exactly what the issue was, and that I should be fired and ‘go to hell,’” the former Apple worker reveals.
It happens once a day for an employee to be involved in an “uncomfortable customer interaction,” so managers need to intervene. But sometimes, it can get worse.
“I have had death threats before. I had someone, I can’t even remember why - it may have been an out-of-warranty fix - who told me that because we wouldn’t repair it for free that they would wait outside until I finished work to run me down with their car,” he claims.
There are times when Apple employees have to call the police because of these death threats, but fortunately, no one has ever been harmed, although he does say that one of this colleagues was once “pushed” by a customer.
Clearly, working in an Apple Store isn’t quite the exciting job that so many people want to have, so before anything, you'd better ask online before applying for a position there. There are plenty of former or current Apple employees on social media who can’t wait to spill the beans.