Special Report: Is Best Buy undermining its storybook turnaround?

Some Best Buy workers say cuts and changes have hurt customer service

Earlier this year, Best Buy laid off 5,000 employees, the majority of them full-time. Unlike a lot of retailers who slash at their store staffs, the company has been on a growth trajectory. 

Current and former store employees that Retail Dive spoke with said that the cuts exacerbated staff shortages and led to the loss of seasoned sales associates. 

At the same time, the company is asking employees to take on ever more tasks around the store as it becomes more digitally-oriented and emphasizes flexibility. But employees we spoke with say there is not enough time to train, and that gaining deep knowledge of multiple product and operational departments can be difficult.

All of that has squeezed employees and hurt customer service, at least in some stores. And Best Buy’s stores were a lynchpin of its now-famous retail turnaround in the previous decade.

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