Filed under: Apple Corporate, Retail
Microsoft's new retail hiring policy: shop at Apple
If you're an Apple retail employee, you might want to keep an eye out for coy glances across the Genius Bar or little notes emailed to your iPhone -- someone may be trying to offer you a job. Word comes via The Loop, citing anonymous sources, that Microsoft's ramp-up process to launching its new line of retail stores has resulted in the harvest & hiring of some Apple Store managers, who in turn are making offers to their hand-picked lists of colleagues with the promise of higher wages in Microsoft's mall outposts. Some managers have been offered relocation assistance to go along with their salary boosts.
You can't blame Microsoft for going after the best in the effort to build out a retail presence (and apparently this kind of bodysnatching goes on all the time in the retail sector), but one does wonder how well the Apple team members will make the transition over to working for Microsoft -- it's a bit more of an adjustment than going from Victoria's Secret to Lady Foot Locker.
It might not just be the lure of more money that draws the iCrew over to the new shops; some may be profoundly dissatisfied with their current working environment, according to an ifoAppleStore report noted by AppleInsider. Frustrations between employees and management at the Alderwood Mall store in Washington have led to the threat of a walkout scheduled for October 3rd, which would be the first such demonstration of labor power by Apple retail employees, according to the post.
If you're an Apple Store employee and you've been approached by Microsoft directly or by colleagues who are jumping ship, drop us a line at tuaw.com/tips and let us know what's going down.
Illustration via the Iconfactory, in belated honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Rowdehaj said 2:11PM on 9-22-2009
Such tactics are to be expected from Microsoft, as it attempts to strongarm its way into yet another facet of the market. I'm not sure what kind of effect this would have on their staff and quality of service though, assuming that the story is true.
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Joanna D said 3:42PM on 9-22-2009
Looks like it's to be expected of Apple as well:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/11/04papermaster.html
julian said 6:51PM on 9-22-2009
Joanna,
you are like the most annoying commenter on tuaw. Please leave the apple fan boys alone
we dont like your comments either
puhsitch said 6:55PM on 9-22-2009
That's kind of a different ballgame, Joanna
punkassjim said 7:00PM on 9-23-2009
Actually Joanna might've had a valid point, if only she's included a relevant link:
http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/06/06/apple.poaching.workers
Granted, they weren't poaching from previously-existing high-quality computer stores…since there weren't any.
Ken Sykora said 2:12PM on 9-22-2009
Isn't this an illegal practice in some/all states?
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Chroma said 2:40PM on 9-22-2009
only if the employee signed a non-competition employment agreement sometime during their employment at apple.
It says I can't work for a similar company for XX amount of time after leaving my current employer.
Roberto said 2:04AM on 9-23-2009
Palm hired some Apple engineers and they helped create the Palm Pre. It was 100% legal, and so are these MS hires.
Jordan said 2:17PM on 9-22-2009
And Apple recently inherited a bunch of chip designers, possibly to enrich their own chip development? Apple has offered people relocation packages and benefits. People leave jobs for more lucrative offerings all the time. It's not illegal. The only reason you have your panties in a bunch is because it's happening to Apple.
It's ultimately up to the employee to decide if they want to jump ship. Should they choose they want to, shouldn't that tell you something about working for Apple?
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VanillaSpice said 11:43PM on 9-22-2009
Panties in a bunch? Whose panties are in a bunch?
Not the author (the article was not a tirade, did you actually read it?), so I am guessing they must be your panties. And I am further guessing that you get your panties in a bunch every single time you misinterpret an article as being pro-Apple, and you can't wait to get on here and pillory anyone who fails to hate the Big Fruit as much as you do.
For the record, Apple BOUGHT the entire chip company, along with all the employees. They did not try to entice some of the employees to switch employers with inducements. You can see, right, how that is a completely different situation? It is not hypocrisy when the situations are different.
So, criticism of author - fail. Criticism of Apple - fail. If you ever are going to try again, please PLEASE do some research and some thinking before you post.
Dylan said 2:26PM on 9-22-2009
Let me get this straight. Microsoft is hiring people to go into Apple stores and just to convince to employees to work for Microsoft?
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Schell said 2:31PM on 9-22-2009
It's nothing Apple hasn't done.
http://www.appletell.com/apple/comment/youre-amazing-we-should-talk/
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Dylan said 2:35PM on 9-22-2009
I think it's stupid and unprofessional for either company to do it.
lens42 said 1:35AM on 9-23-2009
@ Dylan. Would you prefer indentured servitude? All anti-poaching deals are questionable at best and usually illegal. Even ol' Stevie got slapped by Palm for suggesting they stay away from each other's employees. If I were an Apple employee, I'd be flattered. The whole concept that this is somehow not right is an artificial construct of companies who don't want to see expenses rise, and don't like the idea that capitalism works both ways. If these people are valuable, they should be payed what the market will bear.
Schell said 2:32PM on 9-22-2009
To be sure..
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apple-039-Stealing-039-Other-Companies-039-Employees-87427.shtml
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Galley said 2:32PM on 9-22-2009
What exactly do Apple employees know about PCs? I have people asking me PC questions all the time, yet I haven't used a PC in more than three years.
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Ryan S. said 2:40PM on 9-22-2009
That's the way business goes. It's totally legal, and understandable. I hate to say it, but if it'll open up more positions at Apple for people that REALLY want to work there, that's fine with me. :)
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Jack said 4:22AM on 9-23-2009
Working for Apple Retail isn't all it's made out to be amigo.
Jon H. said 2:44PM on 9-22-2009
Microsoft stores to mimic Apple's with "Guru Bars:"
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/07/24/microsoft_stores_to_mimic_apples_with_guru_bars.html
Not to hate for hating sake, but does Microsoft have any original thoughts?
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Jordan said 4:35PM on 9-22-2009
Well the had the taskbar, the pretty much standard way of managing programs and windows. Say...isn't your dock kinda like the taskbar, even more so now than ever in SL?