Apple (AAPL) may be taking a page from government contractors with secretive subcontracting projects, but workers are nonplussed.
A company project, disclosed by Bloomberg, apparently utilizes workers in at will contracts and regularly dismisses them within months of starting while keeping the workers in sub-Apple-standard conditions. These workers are employed by a company called Apex Systems, not Apple, according to Bloomberg.
The practice is common throughout Silicon Valley as many technology companies use outside staffing companies to provide temporary contract workers who can be easily dismissed at the end -- or even during -- a company project. Such workers typically do not receive the same benefits as company employees.
"It sounds good when you say you work at Apple, but when you're not being paid the same amount, and you're not treated the same way, it gets old quickly," one former Apple contractor told Bloomberg.
The report also cites the sick leave time as standing at only 24 hours, far south of the 30 days provided at corporate campuses, according to Glassdoor.
That particular policy led to a few dozen employees quitting, according to the report.
But some have called into question the pertinence of the report, noting the complaints largely relate to vending machine stocking and generally industry standard practices.
On the surface it just looks like your average run-of-the-mill crappy production mapping gig.
— Mike Davis (@mikedmapper) February 11, 2019
Don't get me wrong, this doesn't sound fun, sounds pretty bad (and I'm sure @Apple will rectify it v quick)
But I was expecting worse than understocked vending machines, long bathroom lines & activity monitoring to qualify as "poor working conditions" https://t.co/AdPc1QZmdd
— Jeff Needles (@jsneedles) February 11, 2019
While the practice may not be out of the industry norm, it does beg questions of one of the richest companies in the world. Especially after the company announced a $100 billion share buyback program last year.
As Amazon (AMZN) consistently fields criticism over its treatment of workers, it would be unsurprising to see Apple come under similar scrutiny.
