Best Buy is cutting an undisclosed number of jobs at some stores, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the situation.
Keegan Shoutz, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis-based electronics retailer, told USA TODAY that the company doesn’t generally comment on specific personnel matters and didn’t provide how many employees are affected.
«However, as we have said before, customer shopping behavior will be permanently changed in a way that is even more digital and puts customers entirely in control to shop how they want,» Shoutz said in an email statement to USA TODAY. «Our workforce will need to evolve to meet the evolving needs of customers while providing more flexible opportunities for our people.»
Best Buy temporarily furloughed approximately 51,000 domestic hourly store employees on April 19, including nearly all part-time employees as stores were closed to the public in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Stores fulfilled curbside pickup orders while the stores were closed.
Employees started being brought back from furlough in mid-June and in August, the company raised its minimum starting pay to $15 an hour.
Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said in a statement in November that comparable sales grew 23% as the company «leveraged our unique capabilities, including our supply chain expertise, flexible store operating model and ability to shift quickly to digital, to meet what is clearly elevated demand for products that help customers work, learn, cook, entertain and connect in their homes.»
Barry said the company paid recognition bonuses to field employees, reinstated a short-term incentive compensation and resumed its 401(k) employer match.
Online sales increased 174%, the company said in November, when releasing quarterly earnings.
«This is all in light of the fact that technology is playing an even more crucial role in peoples’ lives, and, as a result, our purpose to enrich lives through technology has never been more important,» Shoutz said in the statement.
