Yesterday, we broke the news of massive layoffs occurring at Best Buy nationwide in the United States. Since that time, we have been talking to now-former employees about the process of the layoffs, and well, it is pretty disheartening.
*quotes have been lightly edited for clarity*
How the Layoffs Were Handled
No one wants to be laid off. It means a loss of income. The loss of ability to support perhaps not only yourself but also a significant other, kids, or other family members. Still, there are ways in which employees can be delivered the bad news in a way that is at the very least humane. An explanation of what was happening, some prior notice that layoffs were coming, or even just the dignity of an in-person, if socially distanced, conversation. Best Buy did not do any of this.
In the months leading up to yesterday’s layoffs, employees were moved around departments regardless of their skill sets or knowledge. Despite record business, employees saw slashed hours and poor direction from corporate. Employees were frustrated by their inability to do right by customers. This ranged from negative experiences with the third-party Geek Squad employees to systems canceling appliance orders. In the case of the latter, corporate did not empower employees to correctly reprice these appliances. This resulted in orders never being refilled. One employee in Michigan, who requested he be referred to as Gura, spoke to us at length. He estimated this cost the company close to a hundred thousand dollars from orders he alone handled.
Can I Interest You In Fewer Hours, Worse Pay and No Benefits?
One recurring theme we heard over and over was an offer being made to reduce from full-time staff to part-time employees. This would come with a loss of hours, pay, and most importantly given the current global pandemic, a loss of health insurance. One source who asked to stay anonymous had been with the company for seven years. He said, “There was no way in hell I was going to settle for a part time position that would probably triple my already stressful workload. Taking the severance was the easiest decision of my life.”
Employees were offered on the spot decisions of whether to stay with the company or to take the severance. Staying on meant staying on as a part-time employee. The loss of income would certainly not be enough to support a family. Severance on the other hand was six weeks pay and six months of health insurance for one employee, who requested to be referred to as MNAnonymous, who worked there for three years. He was let go while enduring his second COVID quarantine. Another employee, by the name of Ryan, told us that he was let go in the middle of his shift after eight years with the company. Multiple sources claimed that management knew this was coming but did not reveal it to their employees.
Local managers thought they would have more say over who was retained and who was let go, but that did not come to fruition. Gura told us that half of the full time employees were let go “…including people who went to achievers several years in a row.” Best Buy Achievers is a yearly gathering the company holds for the best employees. The next Best Buy Achievers conference is slated to be in Nashville in May. Though between the pandemic and these layoffs, chances are it will be a less than celebratory event.
Profit Over People
Like the rest of the market, Best Buy’s stock price tanked when the pandemic first hit the United States. The company lost almost half its value. It took about six months for the stock to return to its pre-pandemic price. The company was boosted by the sudden immense demand for computers, webcams, routers, and other consumer electronics. People working from home needed the tools to do so. Not only that, but they suddenly had more disposable income and need for distractions. Enter consumer electronics giant Best Buy. Best Buy’s stock closed yesterday at $118 per share, up by about 10% from the pre-pandemic price. This is a roughly flat price that the company has lingered at since August of last year.
A former employee in Minnesota told us that he had been with the company for almost four years, and their profits had never been higher. “…we generated more money during a pandemic (than) we ever did pre-pandemic.” He echoed a sentiment felt by virtually everyone we talked to. The sentiment that business was booming. If the business is booming, then these layoffs were nothing more than a way to fill shareholders’ pockets.
We are going to balance our labor with the percentage of sales we are doing in store vs. online.
That was the quote given to one employee. Mismanagement was the name of the game. A game that Best Buy has been playing well.
Be Human
That same employee told us that his store in Wisconsin was consistently short-staffed through the holidays and hours had continued to be cut since then. Gura saw a minimum wage increase at his store but that was accompanied by hours being cut. The result? Individual employees would not actually make any more money.
These stories of Best Buy layoffs are painful. They are only a small slice of the hundreds that have been flooding into r/BestBuy. Many people have been struck by the hard economic times surrounding COVID-19. This is just one more example. The difference here is that it was not a government-mandated shutdown that caused these stores to close. It was a nationwide business that said that rather than take care of our people, let’s hang them out to dry. One employee told us that their manager literally read from a corporate script in front of them that told them they were being let go. Hardly a human moment for a company that stresses to its employees to “Be Human”.
Best Buy did not respond to our request for comment at the time of publishing.