Best Buy furloughs about 51,000 employees as coronavirus lockdowns slow business

About 51,000 Best Buy employees will be furloughed starting Sunday as the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt business, the company said.

Best Buy announced in a statement Wednesday that furloughed employees will still have health benefits for at least three months, according to the statement.

The move comes as retail sales in the U.S. plunged 8.7 percent in March, according to the Commerce Department.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Best Buy changed its operations to online and curbside pickup. Employees who did not feel comfortable working didn’t have to, and employees who were sick were told to stay home and still were paid, according to the statement.

“We have retained approximately 70% of our sales compared to last year since moving to our enhanced curbside service model despite the fact that all our domestic stores are closed to customer traffic and approximately 40 of them, particularly in the northeast, have been completely closed to all business for at least 10 days at our discretion,” CEO Corie Barry said in the statement. “This is a testament to the strength of our multi-channel capabilities – as our Domestic online sales are up over 250% and approximately 50% of these sales are from customers choosing to pick up their products at our stores since moving to our curbside service model.”

About 82% of full-time hourly employees on payroll will still have their jobs, according to the statement.

Additionally, some corporate employees volunteered to reduce their pay and shorten their work weeks, and others have volunteered to be furloughed, the company said.

Employees who have been with Best Buy for longer than one year could get money from an $10 million employee assistance fund, the statement said.

“The situation remains very fluid and there is still a great deal of uncertainty, particularly as it relates to depth and duration of store closures and consumer confidence over time,” Barry said. “We are taking the steps necessary to resume providing our customers in-home services in the near future, keeping in mind our overriding priority on the safety of our employees and customers. We are also preparing to re-open stores to customers as soon as it is safe to do so, with timing likely to vary at state and local levels.”

This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Best Buy furloughs about 51,000 employees as coronavirus lockdowns slow business."