Apple is raising the salary of many US retail employees starting this month, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The increases range from 2 percent to 10 percent, depending on store location and function, and will go to the sales team, including Genius Bar technical staff and some senior hourly workers, the report said, adding that the increases did not apply to all employees. Apple is expanding its retail operations, betting that a combination of strategies developed before and during COVID-19 will make its stores more popular than ever.
Last year, Apple reportedly paid one-time bonuses of up to $1,000 (approximately Rs. 75,700) to store employees ahead of the busy holiday season.
Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The salary of its chief executive, Tim Cook, in 2021 was nearly $100 million (approximately Rs. 760 crore) thanks to stock awards, or about 1,447 times the salary of the average employee.
Apple recently released a new feature that will allow businesses to accept credit cards and digital payments with just a tap on their iPhones, bypassing hardware systems like Block’s Square terminals.
The feature, to be launched later this year, will use near-field communication (NFC) technology to make all types of payments, including between iPhones, Apple said on Tuesday. The tech giant added that it wouldn’t know what was being purchased or who was buying it, stressing the services’ privacy feature.
Fintech services Stripe and Shopify Point will be the first to offer the “Tap to Pay” feature to enterprise customers in Spring 2022 in the US, the company said in a statement.
“Whether you’re a salesperson at an internet-first retailer or an individual entrepreneur, you’ll soon be able to accept contactless payments on a device that’s already in your pocket: your iPhone,” said Billy Alvarado, business director at Stripe.
© Thomson Reuters 2021