Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has lived up to its promise, first coined in by its Chief Executive Officer, Tim Cook in January, where it plans to offer employees who have passed their probationary period an extra discount on a Mac and an iPad.
The new program will see the employees get the two products at discounts of $500 and $250 respectively. This comes to add on to the 25% discount attributed to Apple employees on a three year cycle.
It is reported that the discounts took effect Wednesday, June 20th, 2012. Astonishingly, the new discounts do not apply to Mac mini and the new MacBook Pro with retina display.
However, according to Apple Insider, the reason behind the exclusion of Mac mini is entirely based on the fact that the product has a diminutive price, thus making it cheaply affordable; on the other hand, the new MacBook Pro is believed to be experiencing supply constraints.
The new discount package has coincided with news that retail stores employees have been awarded 25% pay raise, something considered to be outside the norms. Nonetheless, the retail staff have welcomed the new salary package ina joyous mood, albeit citing that it was long overdue.
Before this increment, sales staff at the retail stores earned between $9.00 to $15.00 per hour, while their technical counterparts, would take home approximately $30.00 per hour, notes Wall Street Journal.
The pay raise, which will be, effected in two months time is seen as a counter action to the massive retail staff turnover, believed to have been poached by Apple’s direct rival, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Microsoft is believed to have promised the poached staff, high pay, along with perks and guaranteed promotions.
