Apple Increases Workforce Diversity but Still Has Room for Improvement - http://clapway.com/2015/08/14/apple-increases-workforce-diversity-but-still-has-room-for-improvement123/

A recent report from Apple suggests the company is making strong progress towards expanding diversity in its workforce.

Apple Hired 65 Percent More Women in 2015

Apple’s annual Diversity Report shows some impressive numbers when looking at pure percentages. Over the past twelve months, Apple has hired 65 percent more women, 50 percent more blacks, and 66 percent more Latinos.

“This represents the largest group of employees we’ve ever hired from underrepresented groups in a single year,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a corresponding letter.

Taking a look at pure numbers, that equates to 11,000 women, 2,200 blacks, and 2,700 Hispanics – still impressive numbers. However, Apple employs over 110,000 people, which means the company still has a large amount of ground to cover if it wants to continue strengthening the diversity of its workforce.

Apple’s Workforce is Still Predominantly Made Up of White Males

After taking a look at the landscape of Apple’s entire workforce, the picture doesn’t change much. White males still dominate the workforce, and things begin to look more bleak going up the ladder.

According to the same Diversity Report, 79 percent of white males are either engineers or programmers, and white males make up 54 percent of the total workforce (down from 55 percent in 2014). When it comes to Asian men, 78 percent are engineers or programmers, but only make up 18 percent of the workforce (up from 14 percent in 2014).

Apple Admits There is Still Much to be Done

Progress is progress, and Apple openly admits that they’re not done yet.

“We are proud of the progress we’ve made, and our commitment to diversity is unwavering. But we know there is a lot more work to do,” said Cook.

Expanding workforce diversity isn’t just an Apple problem. Many other major tech companies are making progress in expanding their workforce as well. In the past six months, 43 percent of Intel’s new hires have been women, and Google reported that 21 percent of its new hires have been women. By comparison, Apple is making great progress in expanding the culture in its workforce.

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Apple Increases Workforce Diversity but Still Has Room for Improvement

Apple Spends $700,000 a year to keep Tim Cook Safe - http://clapway.com/2015/08/09/apple-spends-700000-a-year-to-keep-tim-cook-safe768/

As the CEO of the world’s most profitable technology, Tim Cook is a very important man, and important men need serious security. Tim Cook requires so much security that Apple is willing to pay out somewhere in the amount of $700,000 on his personal security each year.

THIS WAS REPORTED IN THE APPLE SCHEDULE 14A REPORT

This large figure was spotted in Apple’s Schedule 14A report with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission by Patently Apple. In the full section in question, this was under a title heading called “All Other Compensation”. This read that this amount represents Apple’s contributions to Tim Cook’s 401(k) plan in the amount of $15,6000, life insurance premiums paid by the company in the amount of $2,520, vacation time in the amount of $56,923 and lastly security expenses in the amount of $699,133. Apple has clarified its expenses on Tim Cook’s security later on in the report, explaining that it doesn’t generally provide “prerequisites to its officers that aren’t available to employees”. Apple apparently provides both home and personal security for Cook, because his security and personal safety are of the “utmost importance to the company and its shareholders”.

LOTS OF TECH COMPANIES SPEND LARGE AMOUNTS FOR CEO SAFETY

Apparently, these kinds of figures for safety and security aren’t all that ludicrous. Amazon spent around $1.6 million to protect Jeff Bezos in 2013. Larry Ellison, the former CEO of Oracle, had a security and safety fund that cost about $1.5 million annually. Many analysts put the upper end of the bodyguard pay scale to be around $120,000 per year. If it is at that price, then Apple is putting out enough money to keep no less than five personal security officers by Tim Cook’s side at all times. Realistically, all of this money isn’t going towards strictly to body guards. Oftentimes, large companies spend money on surveillance cameras and home security systems for their executives as well as body guards.

THIS IS A SMALL AMOUNT IN COMPARISON TO APPLE’S OVERALL PROFITS

Yet, in the grand scheme of things this $700,000 is a small amount of Apple’s earnings for a year. They are currently on their way to reporting a $53 billion profit this fiscal year.

 

You may have to spend a fortune to protect your Apple CEO, but you don’t have to break the bank to protect your Apple iPhone.

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Apple Spends $700,000 a year to keep Tim Cook Safe

Privacy or Relevance: What if Apple Ads Were Based on Your Bank Account? - http://clapway.com/2015/07/18/privacy-or-relevance-what-if-apple-ads-were-based-on-your-bank-account-235/

Apple ads could possibly be based on tracking your credit/debit cards and checking your bank balance in the future, according to a new patent filed by the company on Thursday. Based on your spending habits and the money you’ve got saved in your bank account, Apple could tailor-made ads that might better suit your wallet.

Apple Ads reaching exactly the right customers

“An advantage of such targeted advertising is that only advertisements for goods and services which particular users can afford, are delivered to these users”, the patent filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) explains.

The new Apple ads patent also suggests that goods and services will be marketed to particular target groups based on the “amount of pre-paid credit available to each user”.

No more spamming?

So basically, Apple would push a particular ad in your direction, only if you can afford it. According to the patent, this would avoid “commercial spamming” while increasing the likelihood of users buying a specific product or service.

Privacy versus Relevance

If on the one hand, Apple’s targeted ads would avoid flooding users with products they cannot afford, the move raised some privacy concerns. Should we be trusting Apple more than advertisers? Maybe so.

Yet, while such a system would alleviate the fear of being inundated with ads, many people could feel downgraded at such a class-system coming into place. After all, everyone has the right to be updated about the latest products and trends.

Regarding privacy, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently made outspoken statements saying that the tech giant is not interested in monetizing users’ personal or financial data. Would the new Apple ads system be protecting consumers or the opposite?

What’s next?

According to news reports, this is just a patent, so it doesn’t mean the feature shaping Apple ads will ever come to be. Some have argued that it may even be a strategy to have a competitive advantage on rival technologies. Others believe that the product blueprints don’t necessarily mean that Apple or the participating advertisers would actually have access to the personal financial data it stockpiles.

Are you tired of receiving useless Apple ads? Or would you rather prefer to keep your private information to yourself? Share your opinion in the comments section below.

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Privacy or Relevance: What if Apple Ads Were Based on Your Bank Account?