April 15, 2020
Best Buy, one of the few remaining retailers that hasn’t had a workforce reduction since the advent of COVID-19, plans to furlough 51,000 hourly associates starting Sunday.
The employees will continue to have health benefits, according to a CNBC report. The retailer has been operating on a curb-side pickup and delivery strategy since closing its stores at the end of March.
As Retail Customer Experience has reported, most retailers, primarily those not offering food and essential needs, shuttered locations in the last weeks of March as the coronavirus took a deep foothold in the U.S. as well as across the globe.
Despite the economic impact most retailers are facing due to store closures, Best Buy’s online U.S. sales are up more than 250%, according to the report.
The retailer’s furlough impacts most of the part-time workforce and a small portion of the full-time workforce. About 82% of that workforce, according to a press release, will continue to be paid.
CEO Corie Barry, in a video talk, said the retailer is focused on three goals: serving customers in a safe way, keeping as many staff employed as possible and being “well-positioned to thrive in what will almost certainly be a new and very different environment.”
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Topics: Retail, Coronavirus / COVID-19
Companies: Best Buy