Best Buy Co. told store associates this week that the retailer is cutting a number of jobs and shortening hours, according to people familiar with the situation, as the big box chain adapts to a world of more online shopping.
The company has reported skyrocketing sales in recent quarters as pandemic shoppers stock up on appliances, video game systems and other electronics. Comparable store sales, that of websites or stores that have been active for at least 12 months, increased by 23% in the quarter ended October 31. Much of the gains came from online orders, which nearly tripled in the US in the last quarter.
A company spokesman declined to comment on the details of the job cuts. “As we said before, the shopping behavior of customers will be permanently changed in a way that is even more digital,” said the spokesman. “Our workforce will have to evolve to meet evolving customer needs while providing more flexible opportunities for our people.”
Jordan Diaz, 27, retired from Best Buy on Wednesday. “I was told I would get a maximum of 28 hours which is not full time and thus lose my insurance,” he said. The Denver resident previously worked about 30 to 40 hours a week earning health insurance for himself and his wife, he said. Some of his colleagues were fired on Wednesday, he said.
The company had 125,000 full-time and part-time employees as of January 2020. everything except pick-up service. In June, Best Buy began pulling back workers’ leave, and in August it raised its starting wage to $ 15 an hour.