Apple has been slowing the hiring of Geniuses at some retail stores. While not on an actual hiring freeze, those close to the matter report Genius positions are not being filled after employee departures. Seen as a cost-cutting move by some, the tech giant has also retracted several verbal job offers for some Genius roles.
Reported by Bloomberg, this hiring slowdown has left a handful of technical positions open at retail stores across the United States. Some believe this effort is to decrease staff at locations that aren’t as busy as they were pre-pandemic.
While the Genius role has been part of the Apple Store tradition since its inception in 2001, multiple locations have eliminated the famous Genius Bar. Instead of a dedicated area for serving customers’ technical needs, the Geniuses roam throughout the store while assisting customers.
Additionally, the Bloomberg article states that Apple has outsourced its Mac repairs to remote depots. Despite this, Geniuses continue to troubleshoot, manage product repair pickups, and provide general assistance.
It’s not only the Genius Bar that’s seen cutbacks, however. Some Apple Stores have even slowed the hiring of Creatives, the employees that teach Today at Apple sessions. Sources with knowledge of these cutbacks claim it’s hurting customer service and slowing wait times.
Apple declined to comment to Bloomberg even though numerous Genius roles are still available to apply for online.
