Apple employees

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on Apple employees:

Apple broke US law convincing retail employees not to form a union

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Apple Store employees in Atlanta and New York work to unionize for higher pay
The Apple Store in Cumberland Mall is the center of a possible legal fight over an employee union.
Photo: Apple

The National Labor Relations Board determined that Apple’s tactics in pressuring employees at an Atlanta Apple store to not unionize broke the law.

The NLRB regional director reportedly gave Apple the option to settle or she will start the process of compelling the company to do so.

Apple kicks its return-to-office plan back into gear

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The walkway around Apple Park.
Apple Park will soon be busier.
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Apple’s oft-delayed plan to require corporate employees to be in the office three days a week is reportedly back on.

Apple employees are already required to be in the offices two days a week. That will reportedly jump to three days a week starting in early September.

Apple ends face mask mandate for corporate employees at ‘most locations’

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The walkway around Apple Park.
Apple corporate employees will see a lot fewer masks at Apple Park.
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Apple reportedly told its corporate employees the company’s face mask requirement is at its end. There are exceptions, though.

In March, the company removed the requirement for workers who had been vaccinated for COVID-19. After Monday’s policy change, it’s mostly come to an end for all employees.

Apple store workers vote to unionize

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Apple Store workers in Maryland vote to unionize
Apple store employees in Towson, Maryland, voted to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Photo: International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

Employees at an Apple store in Maryland have made it the first of any of the Mac-maker’s retail locations to vote in favor of joining a union. Several other such stores are preparing to hold their own votes. Meanwhile, Apple is trying to discourage any efforts by its employees to unionize.

It’s not clear how all this will affect users of Apple devices.

New scheduling policies make Apple stores better places to work

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Apple West Lake
Improvements to scheduling rules for Apple retail employees are likely intended to head off unionizing efforts.
Photo: Apple

Apple U.S. retail store employees now get a minimum of 12 hours between shifts, up from 10 hours. And they won’t have to work more than five days in a row. These are just two of the changes Apple is reportedly making to how it schedules workers at its 270+ retail locations.

It’s likely these are intended to reduce employee interest in joining unions.

Apple raises pay for retail and corporate employees

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Apple store
Good news, Apple retail employees!
Photo: Apple

Apple employees can to look forward to raises. The company sent an email to its workers informing them it’ll spend more on employee compensation this year. And starting pay for retail workers is going up 10%.

This is happening as Apple faces increasing competition for employees in a tight labor market, and its retail workers are starting to unionize.

Apple accused of hindering employee efforts to unionize

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Apple moves to head off employee union efforts
It seems Apple won't sit quietly while its retail employees unionize.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Workers attempting to form unions at multiple Apple retail stores allege the iPhone-maker is breaking federal labor laws in its attempts to block these efforts.

If the allegations bear out, it’s more than a bit hypocritical – Apple requires its component suppliers to allow their employees to join unions.

COVID-19 throws off Apple’s return-to-office plan yet again

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Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Getting employees back in Apple Park isn't going smoothly.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Apple reportedly slowed the pace at which it will require its corporate employees to return to the office. They were scheduled to be back at their desks three days a week starting later this month, but rising numbers of COVID-19 cases supposedly pushed that back.

Apple employees are still required to be in the offices two days a week.

Apple moves to head off employee union efforts

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Apple moves to head off employee union efforts
It seems Apple won't sit quietly while its retail employees unionize.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple is reportedly working with Littler Mendelson, a law firm with a history of helping companies prevent their employees from unionizing. The move comes in the wake of workers at several Apple stores moving to form unions.

If true, then Apple is going to do what it can to prevent the thousands of employees at its 250+ retail locations in the United States from organizing for collective bargaining.

Apple store workers eye unions for higher pay

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Apple Store employees in Atlanta and New York work to unionize for higher pay
The Apple Store in Cumberland Mall could soon become the first to have a union.
Photo: Apple

Dozens of workers at an Apple store in Atlanta reportedly plan to file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board asking to become a union. Employees at an Apple retail store in New York are moving in that direction, too.

These could be the first U.S. Apple store employees to unionize. Both groups are asking for higher wages.

Apple employees must begin dragging their sad asses back to the office

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Apple Park Close up
Apple Park will soon be humming with busy employees again.
Photo: Apple

Monday is the day Apple requires its corporate employees to start working in the office some of the time. The pandemic era when most of them could work from home all the time is over.

But everyone doesn’t have to be back in the office five days a week starting today. This is the beginning of a transition period, after which many workers will still be able to work from home a couple days of every week.

Some employees get $200,000 bonuses as Apple again tries to retain them

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If you work in this building, you may have just gotten a little richer.
If you work in this building, you may have just gotten a little richer.
Photo: Apple

Apple is at it again, trying to retain top employees in a competitive marketplace by giving them big money. This time the Cupertino tech giant has handed out a round of special stock bonuses to a group of hardware and software engineers. The amounts range from $100,000 to $200,000.

Apple removes face mask requirements for corporate and retail employees

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Apple's CEO and Spanish singer Rosalía take a selfie with Madrid Apple employees.
Apple employees have a lot to celebrate.
Photo: Tim Cook

Apple is dropping the requirement for most of its corporate employees to wear masks, but there are still limitations. And the company has begun allowing some of its retail employees to take off their face mask at Apple Stores.

The policy change takes place as the surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the omicron variant is essentially over.

Union! Apple retail employees move to unionize

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Union! Apple retail employees move to unionize
While these Apple Store employees are clearly happy, some don’t feel they are being paid as much as they could. So they’re unionizing.
Photo: Apple

Workers at some Apple Stores are reportedly planning to unionize. Employees are two stores are close to filing paperwork with the National Labor Relations Board and more are moving in that direction.

They say their goal is a larger share of Apple’s huge profits.

Why working Apple retail just got better

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Apple store
There’s good news for Apple Store employees.
Photo: Apple

Apple retail store employees are getting more time off. Both sick days and vacation days. This is part of improving the benefits for those who works in the Mac-maker’s brick-and-mortar locations.

The changes come as lots of employers find themselves competing for quality applicants in a tight job market.

Apple tries to retain top employees with $180,000 stock bonuses

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International governments plan to rethink tax rules for the ‘digital age’
Some top Apple engineers got a Christmas present they can take to the bank.
Photo: Pixabay/Pexels CC

Competition for highly skilled engineers and programmers is fierce in Silicon Valley, and Apple’s answer is big bonuses for employees it really wants to hold on to. It reportedly rewarded some workers with up to $180,000 in company stock.

These were apparently unscheduled and not part of usual compensation packages.

Apple again postpones when employees must drag their sad asses back to the office

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Apple Park Close up
Apple employees will be back in the office soon… maybe.
Photo: Apple

Apple corporate employees must start working part-time in the office beginning on February 1, according to a company email that quickly leaked out.

But the Mac-maker has been forced to move back the date when employees to return to the office several times. It could happen again.

Apple preps plan to let retail staffers work from home

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Apple store
Periodically working from home could become a permanent part of Apple retail employees’ job.
Photo: Apple

Apple is reportedly going to test a program that will have its Apple Store retail employees work from home some of the time. And no, that won‘t involve customers shopping in employees’ living rooms.

Apple asks retail employees to help with online customer support

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Like everyone else, Apple retail employees are being asked to work online.
Apple retail employees are being asked to become online employees to make using Apple.com better for customers.
Photo: Apple

Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s retail boss, sent a video to retail employees this weekend asking them to sign up to help customers remotely. She also said they should expect store closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to continue “for some period of time.”

Separately, Apple told employees that it doesn’t expect to have everyone back in its corporate headquarters before the end of 2020.

Apple to bring essential staff back to offices in phased return

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Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Apple employees will return to work in a phased approach.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Apple reportedly plans to gradually return its corporate employees to work over the next few months, likely starting with those focused on major hardware projects.

The phased plan will return thousands of Apple workers to locations around the world, including the company’s main campus in Silicon Valley, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Apple CEO tells employees he’s ‘optimistic’ in ‘stressful’ times

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Apple CEO Tim Cook shows off a face shield Apple is making for medical workers.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has been working from home during the COVID-19 crisis. He addressed Apple employees in a virtual town hall today.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

In a virtual meeting with employees on Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted that COVID-19 makes for an “uncertain and stressful” time, but he’s optimistic about the future.

Cook hosted Apple-wide meeting that let workers pose questions to Apple’s CEO about the effects COVID-19 is having on the company.

Larry Tesler, the Apple employee who invented cut, copy and paste, dies at 74

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Larry Tesler
Larry Tesler worked for Apple from 1980 through 1997.
Photo: Yahoo!

Larry Tesler, a pioneering computer scientist who worked at Apple from 1980 to 1997 and created computerized cut, copy and paste, died Monday at the age of 74.

Tesler served as VP of AppleNet and Apple’s Advanced Technology Group. During his time at Apple, he played a key role in the development of products ranging from the Lisa to the Newton MessagePad.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to his contribution to computing.

Dropcam founder reportedly leaving Apple

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Dropcam image
The guy who popularized home Wi-Fi cameras supposedly checks out of Cupertino.
Photo: Dropcam

Dropcam founder Greg Duffy, who went to Apple in 2017 to work on special projects, has reportedly left the company.

Google acquired Wi-Fi home camera company Dropcam in 2014. However, Duffy fell out with ex-Apple employee and Nest co-founder Tony Fadell, who managed the Dropcam team. Duffy left Google in 2015, and later labeled Fadell a “tyrant bureaucrat.”

Apple employees think they make the world a better place

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Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

A majority of Apple employees believe their company is making the world a better place, according to a survey by the anonymous workplace app Bind.

Blind sent its base a single True-False question – I believe my company is making the world a better place – and nearly 67 percent out of 10,589 Silicon Valley workers responded in the affirmative.