Apple slows hiring of new Geniuses for some Apple Store locations

AppleInsider

Apple is reportedly slowing down the hiring of Geniuses for some Apple Store locations, in what could be considered a cost-saving move.

The Genius is a well-known role in Apple's retail efforts, providing tech support at the store itself. Despite being a big feature of the Apple Store, it seems Apple isn't hiring Geniuses as quickly as it did previously.

Some stores were informed by Apple corporate that Genius positions left vacant after employees leave weren't being filled, an unnamed person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. In some cases, Apple also withdrew a number of verbal job offers for the position.

So far, some stores have lost five or more tech support roles that aren't actively being filled back up. However, Apple hasn't yet publicly confirmed a hiring freeze nor any layoffs.

Employees told the report they thought it was an attempt to reduce the headcount at stores that were no longer seeing as many customers now as they did pre-pandemic.

Geniuses aren't the only target of slow-hiring practices, as Creative trainers have also seen similar cutbacks.

Apple declined to comment on the claims as yet, though there may be discussion on the matter during the company's post-financial results conference call.

The apparent hiring freeze occurs at a time of unrest for store staff. Amid efforts to unionize over stagnating wages and other matters, Apple has allegedly started to combat the attempts by hiring anti-union lawyers.

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anonymouse

I think the lead may be mischaracterizing this as a "cost-saving move". It's not what would generally be characterized as "cost-saving" if you aren't hiring people you simply don't have a need for at the moment, and the connotation of "cost-saving" is that a company is working through some financial difficulty, which is obviously not the case here. 

gregoriusm

anonymouse said:

I think the lead may be mischaracterizing this as a "cost-saving move". It's not what would generally be characterized as "cost-saving" if you aren't hiring people you simply don't have a need for at the moment, and the connotation of "cost-saving" is that a company is working through some financial difficulty, which is obviously not the case here. 

This. 

JFC_PA

Staffing in accord with store volume seems eminently logical. 

bestkeptsecret

anonymouse said:

I think the lead may be mischaracterizing this as a "cost-saving move". It's not what would generally be characterized as "cost-saving" if you aren't hiring people you simply don't have a need for at the moment, and the connotation of "cost-saving" is that a company is working through some financial difficulty, which is obviously not the case here. 

Bloomberg has to spin it, right?

Paul_B

If you don't have a computer science degree or in training for your ticket, you should be prohibited for working in an Apple store.  Woke people DO NOT understand that computers work in 0 and 1.  They believe Unicorns invented the microprocessor. And if a grocery store has self check-out, why can't Apple?  Pick up two products, scan one, leave.  Simple.  My groceries store took away all self check-outs and replaced them with beautiful women.  Furthermore, they should have refurbished bins, go through the bin and get a deal.  Grocery stores know retail, and you spend a lot more coin at Grocery stores.  Sell water, fruits, and apparel too. Think Differently.

davesnothere

Paul_B said:

If you don't have a computer science degree or in training for your ticket, you should be prohibited for working in an Apple store.  Woke people DO NOT understand that computers work in 0 and 1.  They believe Unicorns invented the microprocessor. And if a grocery store has self check-out, why can't Apple?  Pick up two products, scan one, leave.  Simple.  My groceries store took away all self check-outs and replaced them with beautiful women.  Furthermore, they should have refurbished bins, go through the bin and get a deal.  Grocery stores know retail, and you spend a lot more coin at Grocery stores.  Sell water, fruits, and apparel too. Think Differently.

It's a lot easier to teach someone with a personality computer skills than it is to teach a geek social skills. All tech people go through two weeks of training and have continuing training as new products come out. If you're actually opening up and repairing devices, there's a minimum of two more weeks of training. I may not have a CS degree, and you may know more about manipulating registers and memory addresses than me, but I guarantee I know more about the insides of the products than you.

Apple has had self checkout on non-serialized products on the floor for at least 5 years. You can do it from the Apple Store app on your phone. There is a refurbish bin, it's online. A refurbished phone is not 3-day old bread or a dented tomato can.

harry wild

The Apple Genius have gotten less in the “genius” and more of a “buy another one, it is not repairable” type of person! 

get serious

Well could it be that Apple is looking to promote from within, giving employees career growth paths, rather than hiring from outside?

newisneverenough

It’s extremely difficult to find really knowledgeable people at an Apple Store. Mostly the workers are just good at appearing positive. While that’s nice, it doesn’t answer my questions. 

I’d prefer knowledgeable over perfect social skills any day. In my experience, knowledgeable people deal very well with discovering answers, and that’s a fantastic social skill. 

So far, every person who actually found an answer seemed pretty nice and friendly, and I left feeling far better…and more likely to buy.