It’s not just technology and environmental credentials where Apple’s helping lead the way; the company is also doing its bit to secure the futures of those service employees working further down the payscale in Silicon Valley.
Like many tech companies, Apple has previously been the recipient of protests from its own security guards, who have been hired as contract workers rather than full-time employees. Last summer, 50 such individuals blocked the main doors of Apple’s flagship San Francisco Union Square retail store, protesting over their lack of job protection. “If [security officers] miss a day of work, they don’t know if they’ll have the job the next day,” one protestor noted.
To combat this, Apple has now announced that it will dramatically expand its in-house security team, which will see the workers receive the same benefits as other Apple employees. The move will mean that the majority of the day-to-day security staff who work at Apple will become full-time Apple employees, entitled to full health insurance, pension plans and lave for new parents.