They are still Apple employees, just not on the books. This isn't any different from tax evasion through different shell companies across the world: these worke

They are still Apple employees, just not on the books. This isn't any different from tax evasion through different shell companies across the world: these workers spend 100% of their labour producing things that Apple subsequently sells at gross markup, so for all intents and purposes -- they are Apple employees, just not according to the law.