Apple Executive Addresses Recent Employee Concerns in Internal Video

[Expos of 1969]

Pay equity. There are some variables to it. Position A has two people doing it. One is a female minority with three years experience and graduated from college A. The other is a white dude with six years experience from college B. They both start at Apple at the same time. Should they get paid the same?

If they are in the same position and both are expected to produce the same level of results, of course they should be paid the same.

 

[BurgDog]

Do you have an example of any successful organisation that works in the manner that you suggest? Any whatsoever? All the examples I can think of, which were all in Communist countries, crashed and burned and disappeared without trace.

The people looking for equality of results don't understand what that will result in - they just want more for themselves. Also even your normal democratic peoples republic somehow manages to reward some people over others. There are lots of reasons most fail although China seems to be doing somewhat OK now.

 

[ajfahey]

Having worked near the top in large companies, both high tech and not, HR (or whatever new name is used) exists to protect management, nothing else. Call it internal marketing if you want a real description.

Anyone that believes otherwise has not been paying attention long enough. Just ask yourself, outside of outrageous management behavior identified by the media or outsiders, has any people chief sided with the people.

It just does not happen.

HR exists to protect the company from lawyers that might represent the Human Resources in litigation.

 

[ajfahey]

If they are in the same position and both are expected to produce the same level of results, of course they should be paid the same.

In my experience, they are rarely expected to produce the same results.

 

[nikaru]

If they are in the same position and both are expected to produce the same level of results, of course they should be paid the same.

Nah, experience matters. You cant pay equal to a person that has 3 years of experience as another that has 6 years. The end result of their work may be similar but never equal unless you produce patatoes.

 

[Expos of 1969]

In my experience, they are rarely expected to produce the same results.

Then perhaps they are not equal positions and should be classified as different levels.

 

[NotTooLate]

If the company is doing great, like a trillion dollar company with huge profits year after year, why not share the wealth with employees on a transparent basis?, for example: a special bonus due to covid situation, stress and hard efforts with a higher amount paid to those working longer at Apple?. Share the wealth created by your employees!!!.

Not sure why you think they don’t , apple retail has crazy good work environment and compensation vs other retailers , in the engineering side Apple is one of the top dogs in compensation across all fields , they get extra 3 days paid vacation on thanks giving for years now ( Tim Cook started it ) , and other great benefits , could things be better , sure , always, but apple are not cheap at all when it comes to employees , you will notice that the outcry is not about the compensation it self…

 

[NotTooLate]

From my experience salary ranges has always been something that is private, not that you go comparing yourself to everyone else with the same job title. Part of it stems from the day you were hired, and your offer, to how well you are performing and your manager values you as part of the team. But you have people hired with different skill/education valuation along with experience so some that are recent might be paid more then you were with same experience. If you can't elicit the salary you want, then look at other in house positions, or outside to get the job you want.

It also depends on your previous salary before you joined , how much RSU you had there , a simple example , two hardware engineers are coming from Intel and Amazon , it’s safe to assume that the Amazon engineer has a better compensation as of today , so the new employer will need to match and exceed each compensation package , this means that if both are hired they will have a gap between them , unless the Intel engineer comes ready with a number in mind that is not related to his previous compensation , there will never be equal pay and there shouldn’t be , if a company pays everyone the same there will be no reason to work harder and be a better employee, you think that a person looking to his left and see someone makes more then him will make him resentful, the other side of the coin is looking to your left and seeing some lazy ass under achiever making as much as you.

 

[hans1972]

If the company is doing great, like a trillion dollar company with huge profits year after year, why not share the wealth with employees on a transparent basis?, for example: a special bonus due to covid situation, stress and hard efforts with a higher amount paid to those working longer at Apple?. Share the wealth created by your employees!!!.

Isn't that a slippery slope towards communism where the workers owns the means of production?

The employees should participate in employee share programs or buy them privately if they want to participate in the profit of a company.

 

[hans1972]

Seems like a few posts here are from folks who’ve never worked a real job before, or just slid into management after boarding school. There is no question that Apple could, and should pay its employees more. Every apple toy in your hand was designed and built by someone and they should be compensated fairly for their work. The PR piece is just a way of pretending to deal with an issue, while simultaneously saying they don’t have an issue! Keeping silent about pay only helps the bosses.

So what is the median pay in Apple outside it retail employees which are not part of this?

 

[hans1972]

Pay equity. There are some variables to it. Position A has two people doing it. One is a female minority with three years experience and graduated from college A. The other is a white dude with six years experience from college B. They both start at Apple at the same time. Should they get paid the same?

No, they should be paid whatever they are able to negotiate with Apple.

If you are uneducated, inexperienced, inefficient, incapable of doing your job but still able to get a higher pay from Apple than someone who is educated, experienced, efficient and great at their job, I have no issue.

 

[hans1972]

Progressive leaders at Apple earn hundreds of millions, employees get screwed. Hiring foreigners to lower the wages is soooo progressive.

Working from home. Why can't someone work from home in Ireland instead of California?
Shouldn't they be judged on the job they're doing and not who they are and where they are working from?

 

[hans1972]

If they are in the same position and both are expected to produce the same level of results, of course they should be paid the same.

I disagree. if the slacker is able to negotiate better pay, I don't mind.

 

[Denzo]

Interesting that your comment does not consider the link between pay and performance anywhere. Does this mean that it is a puzzle to you as to why some are paid more than others?

It appears it’s my comment which is puzzling you

 

[Flight Plan]

My general rule with work is that nowhere's gonna pay me more money than they have to if I'm gonna be doing the same job. If I want more $$$ then I can either:
- Apply for a promotion elsewhere (surely leveraging Apple's good name isn't THAT hard)
- Sit it out because times are tough & I'm lucky to have a job (e.g. GFC and COVID times).
- Start training/networking so that I can secure the said transfer/promotion.

Yep, this is my advice to anybody who thinks they should make more money. It's also what I do for myself, although for me, money is never the 1st reason for me to do something. It's not the reason I stay in a job, nor the reason that I quit a job, get a job elsewhere, or go for a promotion.

It IS always in the top 3 or 4 reasons, but never is it the first. If a potential employer has the other stuff I want, then usually the pay is acceptable. Work for somebody you respect, get a work schedule that you want, and a job that you want to get up in the morning for, and the money usually takes care of itself.

 

[laptech]

I've read some of the social media posts by Apple employees and the problem the employees are having is that they have done exactly what Deirdre O'Brien suggests, they've gone to their managers with their concerns and the concerns have been dissmissed out of hand which has resulted in the manager creating a hostile working environment.

In the video, which was seen by MacRumors, Deirdre O'Brien tells staff who are experiencing workplace issues to talk to their managers and "business relations partner." She says that Apple has a "confidential process to thoroughly investigate, in a way that treats everyone with dignity and respect."

Obviously Deirdre O'Brien has not been reading the messages from the employee's because being treated with dignity and respect is something the employees are not getting from management.

 

[Flight Plan]

That’s the corporate message. It’s well proven that companies encourage employees not to share their compensation with others not to prevent tension between employees, but to prevent tension between employees and their employer. It serves the corporate interest to keep employees in the dark about how others are compensated. When people find out they aren’t being paid as much as their co-worker in the same role, they’re much more likely to become resentful toward the employer, the one actually deciding they are worth less. Any resentment to the other employee will be shallow and short-lived. Any corporate training manual for middle-management and above will tell you exactly the same.

Some companies do publish salary ranges for every job. Or they make that information available if an employee asks for it. So that part has changed in the last decade or so.

 

[justperry]

Having worked near the top in large companies, both high tech and not, HR (or whatever new name is used) exists to protect management, nothing else. Call it internal marketing if you want a real description.

Anyone that believes otherwise has not been paying attention long enough. Just ask yourself, outside of outrageous management behavior identified by the media or outsiders, has any people chief sided with the people.

It just does not happen.

It does happen.

Personally had my boss (Owner) disagree with head of financial services and HR, was a few decades ago but still, he was against a pay raise, the Boss overruled him in front of lots of people.

The Boss/owner was a hell of a guy, knew everyone by first name, if he made lots of money so did we, lots of perks too.

 

[Wildkraut]

Meanwhile…

Apple cares about privacy, unless you work at Apple

Employees say Apple hasn’t done enough to protect their data.

www.theverge.com

 

[monkey28rb]

Apple retail employees do very well compared to other retail jobs. As they saying goes, if you do not like your job, find something else.

 

[return2sendai]

If the company is doing great, like a trillion dollar company with huge profits year after year, why not share the wealth with employees on a transparent basis?, for example: a special bonus due to covid situation, stress and hard efforts with a higher amount paid to those working longer at Apple?. Share the wealth created by your employees!!!.

Ha ha ha ha haaa! Ho ho ha ha haaaa! Whooo ha ha ha hooooha diddly hoo-ho ha ha!

Ahem… Sorry. Hee hee ha hoooo ha ha ha.

Stop it! Pull yourself togetherahahahaaaaaaa! Whaaaahahahahahahaha….. Ho ho ho haaaaaaha ha….

No, I, ha ha. I just can’t… HA HAVHAAAAA HA HAAAAA WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAHAA HAAAAAAAAAAAA!

I…. I…. I’m a teacher! Yes, I really am. I teach children. Share the wealth. HA haaa haaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Thank you so much for this! I’m on the train home after teaching kids all day and this post has sooooo brightened me up with its childlike naivety.

HJAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

 

[laptech]

It does happen.

Personally had my boss (Owner) disagree with head of financial services and HR, was a few decades ago but still, he was against a pay raise, the Boss overruled him in front of lots of people.

The Boss/owner was a hell of a guy, knew everyone by first name, if he made lots of money so did we, lots of perks too.

That is an extreme rarity in todays working society.

 

[laptech]

Ha ha ha ha haaa! Ho ho ha ha haaaa! Whooo ha ha ha hooooha diddly hoo-ho ha ha!

Ahem… Sorry. Hee hee ha hoooo ha ha ha.

Stop it! Pull yourself togetherahahahaaaaaaa! Whaaaahahahahahahaha….. Ho ho ho haaaaaaha ha….

No, I, ha ha. I just can’t… HA HAVHAAAAA HA HAAAAA WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAHAA HAAAAAAAAAAAA!

I…. I…. I’m a teacher! Yes, I really am. I teach children. Share the wealth. HA haaa haaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Thank you so much for this! I’m on the train home after teaching kids all day and this post has sooooo brightened me up with its childlike naivety.

HJAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

no need to be overtly pedantic and sarcastic towards the member.

 

[I7guy]

Meanwhile…

Apple cares about privacy, unless you work at Apple

Employees say Apple hasn’t done enough to protect their data.

www.theverge.com

Seems like Apple is doing what they legally can do to protect their corporate interests. eh? But if the article is written in a certain way, the verge will post it and wildkraut will quote it.

 

[jonnyb098]

Oh my goodness I am a first year technical writer, why does Tim Cook get paid more than I do?

Millennials are hilarious. Pay based on your intersectionality sounds amazing when you have no skills and are starting out. It looks pretty silly when you have experience and make actual contributions. But this is our future. From each according to their ability and to each according to their victen hood matrix.

While your point is valid and kinda funny. I think what many younger people get ticked off about is that 50+ years ago you could go work in a factory with zero skills other than a pulse and feed your family off that income…..plus get a house, possibly a pension and for sure social security. Now all of that is literally impossible.…..and social security will soon be obsolete.

Not trying to start anything. Just the facts and some insight as to why people are mad. It takes WAY more hard work and effort to have a decent life and support a family in 2021. However pre WW2 it was even harder than it is now….so we are going to extremes clearly. The boomer generation has had it the best of any generation in the last 100 years as far as finances. And it’s because their parents had nothing growing up in the depression or around the depression. So I get it, they wanted to give their kids everything. So they did, they made them brats, those kids then grew up to invent the modern financial system we have today (which clearly has become a mess, except for them).

Fun Times!