Best Buy Co. has notified store workers this week that the retailer was reducing some jobs and reducing hours, according to people familiar with the situation, as the big box chain is adapting to a world where more online shopping is taking place.
The company has reported growing sales in recent quarters as pandemic-tired shoppers stock up on home appliances, video game systems and other electronics. Comparable sales, those of websites or stores that operated for at least 12 months, increased 23% in the quarter ended Oct. 31. Much of the revenue came from online orders, which nearly tripled in the United States in the last quarter.
A company spokesman declined to comment on details of the job cuts. “As we said before, the purchasing behavior of customers will be permanently changed in an even more digital way,” the spokesman said. “Our workforce will need to evolve to meet the evolving needs of customers and at the same time provide more flexible opportunities for our people.”
Jordan Diaz, 27, stopped working at Best Buy on Wednesday. “I was told I would have a maximum limit of 28 hours, which is not full time and therefore I would lose my insurance,” he said. The Denver resident previously worked between 30 and 40 hours a week, taking out health insurance for him and his wife, he said. Some of his co-workers were fired Wednesday, he said.
The company had 125,000 full-time and part-time employees in January 2020. Best Buy reached approximately 51,000 of its employees in early April, including almost all of its part-time employees, as it closed most from their stores in the early days of the pandemic. all but collected on the sidewalk. In June, Best Buy began recovering troubled workers and in August raised its starting wage to $ 15 an hour.