In the era of the Great Resignation and a tighter labour market, it’s common sense to have companies review and increase the benefits they offer their workers, especially when that company is the most valuable one in the world.
Well, it seems like the lightbulb has gone off at Apple, according to a new Bloomberg report published on Friday. The outlet reported that the tech giant was providing raises of between 2% and 10% to its U.S. retail workers, including salespeople, Genius Bar tech support staff, and some hourly employees. Not all employees will receive a pay bump, Bloomberg reported. Apple began informing stores and individual employees of the news this week, meaning that not everyone affected has been informed yet.
The raises will purportedly go into effect this month, according to Bloomberg. Notably, these pay bumps are separate from Apple’s annual wage revisions and wage increases, which are generally carried out in October. If true, the changes are yet another example of Apple’s response the job market’s shifting reality, as well as a possible attempt to address complaints from retail workers. The company has roughly 270 retail stores in the U.S.
Sources with knowledge of the matter who spoke to Bloomberg stated that the wage increases targeted employees who worked at Apple Stores before the pandemic started in 2020. In addition, the raises aim to put the wages of staffers with more seniority on par with newer employees.
Gizmodo reached out to Apple on Saturday to confirm the news about pay raises but did not hear back by the time of publication. We’ll update this article if someone gets back to us.
Apple’s purported wage increases were reported just days after Bloomberg informed that the company would offer more benefits to both full-time and part-time retail employees. The changes, which Apple confirmed to other outlets, will provide double the amount of sick days available to workers and increase employees’ annual vacation days. Part-time employees will also be eligible for up to six paid vacation days for the first time and six weeks of paid parental leave.