Ex-employees of Best Buy’s in-house tech support and repair team, Geek Squad, say there was a mass layoff this week. 404 media Reports A former Geek Squad agent told the outlet that he received an email on Tuesday about the next-day work-from-home program due to a “company change.”
“Our leadership made individual calls saying we were being let go for the simple fact that the company couldn’t afford to pay us more or less. It was extremely short notice and devastating,” says one former geek. The squad worker said 404 media.
On r/GeekSquad, recently fired Geek Squad agents posted pictures of their badges in solidarity and referred to themselves as belonging to the Geek Squad “sleeper cell”, writing That they are “going to sleep” along with their location badge no
the edge We’ve reached out to the company for more details on the layoffs and will update if we hear back.
During the company’s last earnings call in February, Best Buy CEO Corey Berry said that “layoffs are expected this year as part of a push to redirect corporate resources to ensure our Pass has essential assets dedicated to areas like AI and other elements of our strategy and rights to parts of the business where we expect we’ve seen lower volume than we imagined a few years ago. Whether it’s lower industry sales. as a result of or because of decisions we have made such as developing our paid membership benefits.
As for why, Berry cited a number of “macro factors” affecting consumer spending on electronics, including a drop in sales following a surge in demand during the pandemic, and that, “Honestly, Really, right now, there’s no major current innovation that will motivate you to buy a new laptop.
“Our fiscal ’25 initiatives are focused on increasing efficiencies in the forward and reverse supply chain, our Geek Squad repair operations and our customer care experience,” Barry said, referring specifically to Geek Squad’s repair operations. We will continue to rely heavily on analytics and technology to achieve these capabilities. This includes leveraging AI safely and effectively. Another area she is looking at is health, which Best Buy Health is mentioned as an area “where we are leveraging our expertise and the growing use of technology to help our Geek Squad agents deliver healthcare at home. “
That “rightsizing” also includes physical space in stores, where he confirmed Best Buy will “remove physical media and update our mobile digital imaging, computing, tablets and smart home departments.”
Several former and current Geek Squad employees on Reddit noted the high turnover rate associated with the job due to the relatively low pay and low chances of promotion. Based on 231 salaries, Glassdoor estimates a salary range of $16-$21 per hour for a Geek Squad agent. This estimate appears to be accurate based on the open roles listed on Best Buy’s website. For example, there is currently an active listing for “Geek Squad City Supervisor” in Brooks, Kentucky, with a salary range of $20-$30 per hour. An hourly salary range for an entry-level Geek Squad Agent opening at a store in Encinitas, California is $15-$19 per hour.