Apple Retail Store employees getting up to 25% raise or more, depending on store market and performance

Apple Retail Store employees may be getting a raise of up to 25 percent, or perhaps a bit more, after an internal report indicated wages as a common complaint. The initial report came from a Dow Jones report but we have confirmed this independently.

Soem retail employees got a raise last year of up to a dollar and those same employees got as much as $2 this time around. Some employees have gotten up to $4 because they’re in bigger or higher-volume markets. This is likely where the number in the Business Insider post a couple of days ago came from. We’ve been hearing reports of a raise for a while now but this is the first realistic-sounding range we’ve heard. The size of the raise is going to depend completely on the market, so employees in NYC would get more than those in a smaller midwest market.

The Dow Jones report corroborates this, outlining face-to-face meetings with managers that began last week, where employees were informed of the raise. The report says that a review of employees revealed that wages were their biggest complaint:

The overwhelming staff complaint during an internal review was wage levels, one employee said. Higher-level retail staff, such as its “Genius” tech support teams and “Creative” educational teams were among the most frustrated, this person said. At one store, another employee noted, a nearby competing Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) retail shop had begun poaching employees by offering promotions and higher wages. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple Store employees that work on the floor typically earn between minimum wage and $15/hour. Very experienced Genius staffers in big markets like New York may be paid up to the $30 range or so, but that’s very high.

There are some 363 Apple Retail stores worldwide. As many as 80 future stores have been partially confirmed as in the planning or building stages. Apple Retail Stores currently generate over $4,000 per square foot, the most of any retail store.