Best Buy Cuts 2,400 More Jobs

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As part of Best Buy’s restructuring program, it was announced on Friday that the company will be cutting an additional 2400 jobs in its quest to reduce costs by $800M by 2015.

About six hundred of the jobs will be from its 20,000-person Geek Squad service and repair unit with the other 1,800 coming from store staff.
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Unless they were paying them all 333k a year...am assuming theyll be doing more cutting.
 
Isn't it amazing that someone like Bill Gates is worth, what, 60+ billion dollars yet Best Buy is trying so hard and desperately to can under a single billion...just makes it seem so insignificant...some big company is struggling so hard while some guy is literally sleeping in a bed made from a billion dollars of stacked money.
 
JoeUser said:
Isn't it amazing that someone like Bill Gates is worth, what, 60+ billion dollars yet Best Buy is trying so hard and desperately to can under a single billion...just makes it seem so insignificant...some big company is struggling so hard while some guy is literally sleeping in a bed made from a billion dollars of stacked money.
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He ran a successful business that made a product.

Best Buy is a somewhat successful business that retails products.

Apples to Oranges, sort of.
 
JoeUser said:
Isn't it amazing that someone like Bill Gates is worth, what, 60+ billion dollars yet Best Buy is trying so hard and desperately to can under a single billion...just makes it seem so insignificant...some big company is struggling so hard while some guy is literally sleeping in a bed made from a billion dollars of stacked money.
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Business models either work or they don't.
Wealth is not a dirty word, we would all want to be millionaries I'm sure.

For many, a failure in business, can lead to success if there willing to learn from
past mistakes.
 
Double Post!

People like to say the losing jobs is bad, but it really isnt, it frees up useless people to go figure out something better to do with their lives. It forces people to be more competitive. And at some point it will teach best buy to stop sucking, or kill their business. Really its up to their CEO
 
rudy said:
Double Post!

People like to say the losing jobs is bad, but it really isnt
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Funny how it's always the peons and never the upper levels of management that take the hit. Or going through company procedures to cut waste. Or, gasp, giving the shareholders less of a profit.
 
In 2011, during the three-month period ended February 26, Best Buy saw its revenue and profits slide, generating a profit of $651 million on revenue of $16.26 billion. In comparison to the same period in 2010, it tallied $16.55 billion in revenue and a $779 million profit.[15] Various reasons have been given for the decline.[16]
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profit of $651 million
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I hate it when companies lay off people while making profit.
 
It's not so much profit that drives companies....it's the percentage of profit that concerns the pencil pushers. Bottom line is no matter how much a company makes, it always wants more and usually at the expense of the employees.
 
Wow that sucks for those workers. Though, it does make one wonder, if a company made the proper research before the mass layoffs and realize that the company can function without all those people, then why were those jobs created in first place? I'm speaking more in general here, since we seem to hear of lot of companies latetly doing mass layoffs.
 
MajorDomo said:
It's not so much profit that drives companies....it's the percentage of profit that concerns the pencil pushers. Bottom line is no matter how much a company makes, it always wants more and usually at the expense of the employees.
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Yep, that's not net profit. I work for a beer distributor and we make about 25% on every case of beer we sell. That 25% is gross profit. After we pay the salesman, the driver, the gas, the insurance, the taxes and everything else its more like 4-5%. That's net profit. I'd wager Best Buy's margin is about the same so out of that 600 million, maybe 30-50 million went in the bank. That's not a whole lot for a multi national company.
 
Vicinity said:
He ran a successful business that made a product.

Best Buy is a somewhat successful business that retails products.

Apples to Oranges, sort of.
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Gates ran a business that was protected from competition by federal IP laws. Best Buy runs a business that has no federal protection from competition.
 
I don't even think about going into a Best Buy anymore for any reason. Amazon Prime membership gives me free 2 day shipping on tons of shit. No reason to ever go to Lame Buy again.
 
Stone Cold said:
Gates ran a business that was protected from competition by federal IP laws. Best Buy runs a business that has no federal protection from competition.
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Eh, until Amazon came along Best Buy was well positioned as a monopoly in many cities as they ran all the other little-guy B&M electronics stores out of business. If I want/need anything computer related *immediately*, today my only choice is Best Buy.
 
JoeUser said:
Isn't it amazing that someone like Bill Gates is worth, what, 60+ billion dollars yet Best Buy is trying so hard and desperately to can under a single billion...just makes it seem so insignificant...some big company is struggling so hard while some guy is literally sleeping in a bed made from a billion dollars of stacked money.
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The best part was when his estimated net worth in 2011 was ~$45 billion, now in 2012 it's jumped $61 billion
 
lord_emperor said:
I hate it when companies lay off people while making profit.
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While I agree with that to an extent... Best Buy also needs to stack cash to launch more stores, finance the restructuring of existing stores, etc.
Much like ATT needs cash to keep growing its network.

Generally, I agree with your assessment, but you have to maintain *some* kind of profit to fund future projects and such.
 
Epicness said:
While I agree with that to an extent... Best Buy also needs to stack cash to launch more stores, finance the restructuring of existing stores, etc.
Much like ATT needs cash to keep growing its network.

Generally, I agree with your assessment, but you have to maintain *some* kind of profit to fund future projects and such.
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If they're gonna use more stores, the either need SMALLER stores, or better stock.
 
The Number one Reason i don't go to Best buy.........

I'm tired of them trying to sell me something all the way out to the car.

Goes in to look at pocket cameras.
"Would you like an extended warranty with that?"
"No"...."Why not?" ......"because I'm careful with my electronics"
"you still might need it."........"no thanks"

Goes to register to cash out
"Would you like an extended warranty with that?"
"no"...."why not?".....etc.etc.

"Would you like a magazine subscription?"
"no"....contemplates suicide at this point.

I'm surprised they don't try to follow me out to the car in the lot.

Can't i just get what i'm shopping for and pay for it? Damn......
 
SkullE said:
The Number one Reason i don't go to Best buy.........
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I don't know why you would anyway, buy online most of the time.

Vicinity said:
If they're gonna use more stores, the either need SMALLER stores, or better stock.
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That might be true, but their lack of seeing their problem doesn't diminish my point ;) Companies still need some kind of profit to, at the very least, maintain competitive in the future. If they didn't do that, competitors would be leaps ahead and they'd be laying off everyone rather than just 2400 employees. I'm not saying this is true in this case, I'm just saying it's true in many cases.
 
I like how corporate staff that put the company in this position are ,as usual, shielded from any of the repercussions of doing so, I bet they get a raise in their bonuses for finding out how to fire more people.
 
Epicness said:
I don't know why you would anyway, buy online most of the time.


That might be true, but their lack of seeing their problem doesn't diminish my point ;) Companies still need some kind of profit to, at the very least, maintain competitive in the future. If they didn't do that, competitors would be leaps ahead and they'd be laying off everyone rather than just 2400 employees. I'm not saying this is true in this case, I'm just saying it's true in many cases.
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Problem is that there are very, very, slim profit margins in electronics. That is why BB pushed their warranties and services so hard. Without them I don't think the company can survive.
 
Vicinity said:
If they're gonna use more stores, the either need SMALLER stores, or better stock.
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They have actually downsized some stores already. What I am curious about is the heighth (sp?) of the ceilings in stores nowadays. Is it really necessary to have 100+ foot high ceilings? Why have them that high and pay to have it heated and cooled? Couldn't they save some money through energy bills by lowering their ceilings?
 
BoogerBomb said:
I like how corporate staff that put the company in this position are ,as usual, shielded from any of the repercussions of doing so, I bet they get a raise in their bonuses for finding out how to fire more people.
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It's that way in any company, and even the government...
Not starting an argument about Fast and Furious, by do you think the "top dog" Obama will take the fall? No... What about Holder?... No... Anyone high up that had knowledge in the DOJ??? Nope.... I'm not making a political statement here, my point is simply that the government is the same exact way. Government cannot solve this, and corporations cannot solve this.

What solves it is money. Pure and simple. Stop buying from these companies.

BoogerBomb said:
They have actually downsized some stores already. What I am curious about is the heighth (sp?) of the ceilings in stores nowadays. Is it really necessary to have 100+ foot high ceilings? Why have them that high and pay to have it heated and cooled? Couldn't they save some money through energy bills by lowering their ceilings?
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It's all psychological. Believe it or not, WalMart and such stores spend a bit of money analyzing buying habits, and even the freaking layout of the store is designed in such a way to get you to buy stuff. People generally shop around the store in a certain way, so they put the most "needed" items (such as milk/eggs) in the farthest part. That's what most people go to get, so they make you walk buy a ton of stuff in the aisles in an effort to make you buy more stuff.

Ceilings are the same way. It's an illusion of success, more free/less pressured- so you are more open with your money, etc... These stores wouldn't do it if it didn't make them more money.
 
good, there customer service is terrible.


They should change the name of the store to Brobuy.
 
SkullE said:
The Number one Reason i don't go to Best buy.........

I'm tired of them trying to sell me something all the way out to the car.

Goes in to look at pocket cameras.
"Would you like an extended warranty with that?"
"No"...."Why not?" ......"because I'm careful with my electronics"
"you still might need it."........"no thanks"

Can't i just get what i'm shopping for and pay for it? Damn......
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Office Depot is even worse.

all the B&M stores push extras
 
trynberg said:
Funny how it's always the peons and never the upper levels of management that take the hit. Or going through company procedures to cut waste. Or, gasp, giving the shareholders less of a profit.
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I think the word you were looking for was "logical", not "funny".
 
trynberg said:
Funny how it's always the peons and never the upper levels of management that take the hit. Or going through company procedures to cut waste. Or, gasp, giving the shareholders less of a profit.
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True but like I said if the CEO does not learn he kills the company and those employees will find new jobs in a company that does not suck. Also just like every other bad thing that has happened in the USA recently you cannot excuse the peons from the mess.

Peons sit in stores and lie through their teeth. Peons fail to educate them selves about the very products they sell, they have no excuse either they work at best buy. Peons do not push good products and make customers happy, they push profitable products. Peons never think they just be peons and they deserve what they get. I constantly see the peons trying to peddle snake oil from the geek squad and warranties that are shorter than the products own warranty. But I never see them trying to do real upselling, you know like showing you how adding a second monitor to that laptop would really be awesome, teaching people about the performance difference between mice and why it is worth it to buy a better one.

I posted before about how shitty the store was, thats the peons that dont bother doing things like plugging a charger into a phone and fixing things up after customers mess with it. Thats the peons that dont pass the information up to whomever to get something fixed, repaired or replaced.

Finally if management is that bad and nothing you do helps, write up your resume and get a new job before 18000 of your co workers go on the market.
 
rudy said:
Peons do not push good products and make customers happy, they push profitable products. Peons never think they just be peons and they deserve what they get. I constantly see the peons trying to peddle snake oil from the geek squad and warranties that are shorter than the products own warranty.
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To my knowledge Best Buy is in no way commission based, so why would a "peon" even push profitable products? Why would they care to push profitable products if there's no incentive?

Further, how would a "peon" even know what's profitable and what's not?

Why on Earth would Best Buy not provide some sort of incentive for their "peons"??????? If there's no commission involved, what incentive do they REALLY have? "Peon" X could sell $10,000 in one day, and "Peon" Y could sell nothing in one day, and in theory get the same paycheck? What's wrong with that picture........
 
I3eyond said:
To my knowledge Best Buy is in no way commission based, so why would a "peon" even push profitable products? Why would they care to push profitable products if there's no incentive?

Further, how would a "peon" even know what's profitable and what's not?
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Because they are told to. This is how retail works. "This is high margin, push it".
And yes, this is what really happens. "I better see you pushing it or you'll get fired"
"The secret shopper will wait to see you upsell". Etc Etc.
 
Q1DM6 said:
Because they are told to. This is how retail works. "This is high margin, push it".
And yes, this is what really happens. "I better see you pushing it or you'll get fired"
"The secret shopper will wait to see you upsell". Etc Etc.
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I just feel like if the "peons" were given incentive, maybe the customer service would be better?
 
Most employees dont get commission in retail, never stops them from doing shady junk.
I am in no way dismissing management. The most core problem of best buy is their clueless CEO. But that does not waive every employee of their responsibility to be a decent human being, and also look out for their own interest and in many cases looking out for your own interest is not as strait forward as just doing what you are told. And often in the end looking out for your own interest means looking out for your companies interest.

Lets put this into perspective of the housing bust. People blame the government, people blame greedy bankers etc.. But guess what if people were not overcommitting and taking loans they could not afford then it is not possible to create such a bubble. So in the end no matter who you try to blame the fault lies on the people who took the loans. And people cry about deceptive loans, but really when you are making a multi hundred thousand dollar purchase shouldnt you be doing a sliver of educating yourself? Shall we move on to the auto industry?

Its not just the guy working, it is every freaking manager from a department manger to a store manager, to a regional manager that follows stupid orders and does not speak up and say this stuff you CEOs are pushing isnt working and it wont work long term. And all of them have their jobs on the line.

Thats why when I see this shit going on I dont feel sorry for any of them. To me best buy cant die soon enough, maybe we can finally see a company like amazon or newegg decide to break in with a retail presense.
 
rudy said:
Thats why when I see this shit going on I dont feel sorry for any of them. To me best buy cant die soon enough, maybe we can finally see a company like amazon or newegg decide to break in with a retail presense.
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IMO there's no feasable way Amazon could ever have a retail presence and continue to do what they succeed at now: Extremely competitive pricing.

If they had to pay for a building's rent, A/C, power, its people working there, it just wouldn't work. IMO Best Buy is experimenting with a smaller store approach so the bills are less.

Amazon has low prices because all they have is a website and distribution centers. You add a retail presence and suddenly everyone's bickering because their prices ultimately have to go up because of all the extra bills Amazon would suddenly be paying. Their profits would sink if they didn't increase their prices within a retail presence.
 
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