Best Buy Provides Updates on Evolution of Employee Pay and Sales

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Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) today announced updates related to employee pay evolution and Q2 FY21 quarter-to-date sales performance.

Employee Pay Evolution” data-reactid=”23″Employee Pay Evolution

The company is raising the starting hourly wage for all Domestic employees to $15 effective Aug. 2.

“Strong consumer demand, combined with shopping experiences that emphasize safety and convenience, has helped produce our sales results to date,” Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said. “None of this would be possible without the effort and energy of our front-line employees working in stores, supply chain facilities and customers’ homes. Today’s announcement on pay reflects an ongoing evolution and investment in how we compensate them for their critical work and is the result of clear and consistent feedback from field employees across the country. In the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, we made a number of temporary decisions, including providing appreciation pay to hourly field employees, and we’re now pleased to evolve to a more structural approach that significantly invests in paying and supporting them in ways that they have asked for and so clearly earned.”

Since the early stages of the pandemic, all hourly retail associates and supply chain employees who were working received incremental hourly appreciation pay. The incremental appreciation pay started March 22 and ends Aug. 1.

On April 19, the company temporarily furloughed approximately 51,000 Domestic hourly store employees, including nearly all part-time employees. At that time, the company retained approximately 82% of its full-time store and field employees on its payroll, including the vast majority of In-Home Advisors and Geek Squad Agents. On June 15, the company began bringing employees back from furlough, and approximately half of the 51,000 Domestic hourly employees have returned from furlough so far. The company has extended health benefits at no cost through Sept. 5 to the remaining furloughed employees currently enrolled in a Best Buy health plan.

Beginning Aug. 2, the company is evolving its pay structure. Driven by extensive employee feedback, and to provide more predictability in pay, a 4% increase in hourly rate will replace short-term incentive compensation for hourly store employees below the leadership level. After the 4% hourly pay increase, employees who are not yet at $15 per hour will have their pay increased to…