Best Buy draws Circuit City comparison with rumoured job cuts

US-based consumer electronics giant Best Buy is expected to make a wave of job cuts at its stores, drawing comparisons to a similar disastrous move made by its rival Circuit City two years ago. According to reports, over the last week, Best Buy notified workers of the staffing changes, which a spokeswoman said "places greater emphasis on customer-facing employees and provides more focus and clarity to the leadership roles in the store". Brokerage firm Sanford C. Bernstein estimates that this could mean as many as 8,000 senior staff will be effectively demoted and that assistant store manager positions will be consolidated. Best Buy spokesperson Susan Busch declined to provide specifics of the staffing changes but said Best Buy will give workers a chance to apply for other store jobs and that Bernstein’s figures were “on the high side”.

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