Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) layoffs are the talk of Wall Street today as the struggling electronics retailer opts to cut hundreds of its employee roles in the face of waning demand this year.
Indeed, on Friday the Wall Street Journal reported that Best Buy intends to eliminate hundreds of “consultant” roles — store workers who specialize in the sale of certain specific products, like laptops and cell phones. A Best Buy spokesperson later confirmed the report.
“As we shared last month, we’re evolving our stores and the experiences we offer to better reflect the changes in customer shopping behavior, as well as how we organize our teams to ensure we continue to provide our expertise, products and services in the best way possible,” the spokesperson told Barron’s.
It’s unclear exactly how many employees the role-elimination process will cut when all is said and done.
What else do you need to know about Best Buy today?
Best Buy Layoffs Sound Alarm on Upcoming Unemployment Surge
Unfortunately, today’s news hardly comes as a surprise for the slumping retailer. In its recent earnings call, Best Buy leadership warned of an impending slip of in-person electronics sales. Best Buy has long been considered a retailer in decline in the wake of growing online-shopping preferences. Despite its recent earnings beat, the company appeared anxious over continued changes in the market landscape.
Investors have also been bearish on BBY stock this year. Best Buy is down almost 9% this year, alongside a number of other retailers and tech giants.
Best Buy is the seemingly only the latest company to announce layoffs recently. Tech unicorns like Meta (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) have announced layoffs in the past year, likely a result of rising interest rates and concerns over a recession to come.
Best Buy has flirted with bankruptcy several times in its publicly traded existence. The company has frequently been the subject of meme-stock buy-ups. Indeed, investors have sent BBY’s share price skyward, seemingly solely as an affront to institutional short investors.
Whether the retailer manages to catch its footing after its latest round of job cuts remains to be seen.
On the date of publication, Shrey Dua did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
