Don't give up...

If you haven’t seen this…: An Ex-Genius writes a letter to Tim Cook about better valuing its retail workforce

I came across this well-written article on the ifoAppleStore blog about ex-Genius, Chad Ramey’s letter to Tim Cook. Ramey was a dedicated and passionate Apple Genius working in one of the Arizona stores but was eventually forced to resign from a job that he loved. The comments attached to the blog post by other current and former Apple employees add to the disheartening realization that this is happening company-wide. For a company that claims that the “most important resource, our soul, is our people”, this seems like a great example for the phrase, “ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS”.

The letter and ensuing comments speak of management teams that have become arrogant and seemingly have no qualms about taking advantage of their employees because they are basically seen as expendable. Many of these managers have come from other companies and haven’t had to work their way up through the ranks in the Apple retail stores so they can not fully understand the severity of the consequences their actions have for the employees. This is also true of the bigger picture in which the larger decisions that are coming from corporate are putting unrealistic pressures on the retail workforce without additional compensation or even acknowledgement.

As someone who has and has had similar experiences, it’s in part relieving to know that you aren’t the only one that feels disappointed, disheartened, and burned out on a job that you try so desperately to hold on to your love for. On the other hand, though, it’s sad to see that your peers company-wide are experiencing the same hardships, making it obvious that it is a much larger issue than we are able to control. It’s depressing to know that it’s the same everywhere. I know that I’m not the only one who is so deeply passionate about this job and this company that it truly hurts to have to fight to keep that love.

For me, I have come to the realization that I have allowed management and larger corporate mandates to take the fun out of my job for me. Like many others, I used to love coming to work every day and felt fulfilled at the end of the day when I went home. Doing this full time was like being on vacation. However, in the last year or so, things have gotten so bad because we haven’t been allowed to connect with our customers or with each other in so long that things have become a competition and a numbers game. I personally refuse to let them win. I want to be able to enjoy my job again. I pride myself in having a job in which I love what I do, the people I have the privilege of working with, and the company that I choose to stand behind. Fuck the managers and circumstances that try to hold us down.

I have made it my goal to find the fun in my work again. I had to stop thinking about the numbers and the hoops that management constantly has me jump through for no reward. I’ve given up on the idea of management actually caring about us and doing right by us. I genuinely just want to enjoy my work and my time again. I take a few extra minutes to do the things we were originally taught and make the effort to connect with my customers and my co-workers/friends because when I do, it makes dealing with the bullshit and the politics all a bit easier because it’s what reminds you why you loved it all in the first place.

I don’t know that it will get better but I hold on to hope that it will. I hope that my brothers and sisters out there can do the same. It’s bad enough that we’ve let them push some of us out through overworking us, under appreciating us, bullying us, and flat out taking advantage of us. It would be worse if we continue to let them suck the fun out of it for all of us. The greatest part of the blog entry, letter, and comments was that it showed me that we are in this together. We can support each other and get through it together.

Don’t give up…