When COVID hit in 2020, everything changed. Practically overnight, we lost what seemed like half of our team. I had just finished training and was told the most I’d ever handle was two chats at once, maybe three occasionally. Instead, I was thrown into handling three or more simultaneously, every day, all day, often dealing with customers in crisis mode after weeks of isolation.
My team lead vanished. For six straight weeks, I had no support, no check-ins, no communication. Just silence. The stress and chaos pushed me into daily panic attacks. I even learned to schedule them an hour before my shift just so I could calm down enough to log in on time. It was survival mode, plain and simple.
Despite the emotional toll, I stuck with it. A lot of us did. The ones who didn't get sick, didn’t walk away, and kept the engine running. We were told there’d be a "substantial raise" as a reward for grinding through the holidays of 2021 (also known as 2020 Part 2). That raise turned out to be the same tiny bump we got every year, and they even cut our benefits at the same time. So really, it was a pay cut disguised as appreciation.
Then came the great silence about the Apple contract renewal. For over a year, Kelly dodged every question. No communication, no transparency, just more pressure. It wasn’t until we cornered them for answers that they finally admitted Apple wasn’t renewing. Until then, they just kept pushing us to perform harder, as if that would magically change things.
What finally broke me was finding out Apple was paying \$14 more per hour for my position than what Kelly was paying me. That meant Kelly was pocketing a massive cut of my wage. That, plus the broken promises and years of burnout, was my final straw. I began job hunting immediately.
And just one month before I would have hit my 5-year tenure, I was fired for simply commenting on the pay disparity between Apple employees and contractors. One of those employees had dumped a case on me they couldn’t be bothered to finish themselves. That was the thanks I got.
Not long after, Apple officially dropped Kelly Services from their vendor list. No surprise there.
**Final thoughts:**
I’ll never buy another Apple product after what I witnessed behind the scenes. And I will never work for another temp agency. Kelly Services taught me that loyalty, hard work, and perseverance mean nothing when you're just a line item on someone else’s invoice. They were sneaky, exploitative, and deeply disappointing.
**If you value your mental health, your time, and your dignity, steer clear of Kelly Services.**
