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Best Buy cuts store jobs as online sales increase

By Nithya Bose in US business news, posted April 17, 2023

Best Buy is laying off store workers as consumer electronics demand declines and people spend more online.

Sources said these staffers, internally called “consultants,” have been told their jobs would be lost.

Their workload will be shifted to a smaller number of similar roles, and those impacted can reapply for openings within the firm or take severance.

Sources said the choice affects hundreds of workers across over 900 US stores.

Best Buy has conducted a series of store-level staff cuts as sales slump over the past two years as it adapts to changing shopping trends.

CEO Corie Barry said: “Over the past three years we have been optimizing our store staffing model to reflect the changes in customer shopping behavior and to fuel investments in higher wages.”

A spokeswoman said the shift is partly due to Best Buy’s current attempt to plan store formats, fulfillment options, and staffing by market.

It had over 90,000 workers in the US and Canada as of January, from nearly 125,000 staffers in early 2020.

Some reductions are because of the close down of almost 70 large-format stores over the past three years.

In recent quarters, sales dropped sharply as the early pandemic rush to buy electronics and appliances declined, and buyers turned spending to necessities like food amid inflation.

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Ms. Barry said for the current year, “macroeconomic headwinds will likely result in continued volatility and we are preparing for another down year for the [consumer-electronics] industry.”

In recent months, McDonald’s slashed hundreds of corporate employees and limited pay packages.

Walmart has closed several stores and reduced staff in its corporate office and e-commerce warehouses over the past year.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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