Best Buy announces layoffs on top of buyouts
Richfield-based Best Buy told headquarters employees today that it will hand out an unspecified number of pink slips Feb. 19.
Workers will remain with the company 30 days after the layoffs.
The cuts will come on top 500 voluntary buyouts that workers signed up for earlier this month. Those buyouts will shrink the corporate headcount to 3,500.
Best Buy spokeswoman Sue Busch says it's likely the layoffs will reach across departments. She says laid-off workers will receive severance packages.
"For an average non-managerial employee, they'll be getting six months of severance pay," said Busch. "But on top of that, they'll be getting one full year of their health benefits, dental benefits, and life insurance benefits, paid for by Best Buy, and they'll also be getting some outplacement services for their job search."
The buyout package provides an extra month and a half of pay to comparable employees.
Best Buy announced last week that its chief executive will step down in June. Flagging consumer spending has hammered the retailer's sales.
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