As in all things free-market driven, value is a function of supply and demand. The reality is the supply of people capable working in a retail, direct sales, or service position is sufficiently large in comparison to the companies requiring such employees, that the negotiating position is in the hands of the companies.
There is never any absolute value to any position, nor any value judgements about the people in those positions - there is simply a (dynamic) supply curve, a demand curve, and the intersection thereof.
Tragically - skills play less a role than what one might think. I am constantly embarrassed to discover the salary differential between what I make as a Network Engineer/Technical account manager and what my friends who are particle physics PHD graduates at SLAC make. (If it's not clear, the skill/education required to be a particle physicist exceed that of a network engineering manager. But the network engineering manager makes somewhat more money in the valley.)
Edit: Also - it's important to differentiate skills that are acquired/developed, (I.E. such as understanding the behavior of Muons, or quickly grokking an OSPF schematic) versus those that are simply attributes of being a nice person. I'd suggest that a lot of retail positions can be taught in less than a couple weeks (indeed, the Apple training takes place over two weeks) - whereas other skills take many years to learn.
There is never any absolute value to any position, nor any value judgements about the people in those positions - there is simply a (dynamic) supply curve, a demand curve, and the intersection thereof.
Tragically - skills play less a role than what one might think. I am constantly embarrassed to discover the salary differential between what I make as a Network Engineer/Technical account manager and what my friends who are particle physics PHD graduates at SLAC make. (If it's not clear, the skill/education required to be a particle physicist exceed that of a network engineering manager. But the network engineering manager makes somewhat more money in the valley.)
Edit: Also - it's important to differentiate skills that are acquired/developed, (I.E. such as understanding the behavior of Muons, or quickly grokking an OSPF schematic) versus those that are simply attributes of being a nice person. I'd suggest that a lot of retail positions can be taught in less than a couple weeks (indeed, the Apple training takes place over two weeks) - whereas other skills take many years to learn.