JobsStat

As the economy worsens, jobs in Minneapolis suffer. Since more people are struggling to find work, fewer people have the money to spend on unnecessary purchases. The less money being spent at retailers then causes these establishments to have to reduce the size of their workforces because they lack the number of customers and amount of money to justify jobs, which in turn starts the cycle all over again.

One employer that is having to cut Minneapolis jobs for similar reasons is Best Buy Co. Inc. Recently the company announced that it will be doing away with 250 positions at is corporate headquarters, which is located in the capital city.

Although the company said that this many workers will be losing their jobs, a large number of them may be eligible for other positions that are in the process of being created. Best Buy plans to post approximately 210 new Minneapolis area jobs, meaning that the real number of positions in this industry the city will be losing is significantly smaller than it may seen at first glance. A net loss of 40 jobs is less likely to have a large effect on the area’s economy than losing 250 positions would.

“It is our sincere hope that these jobs can be filled by the people whose jobs were impacted today,” said Best Buy spokesperson Sue Busch Nehring, according to the Associated Press. “The new positions reflect organizational changes made to better align activities with Best Buy’s priorities.”

Nehring went on to say that company has found it necessary to restructure the way it’s stores are operated in an effort create a “more intuitive, customer-focused shopping experience.”

With many people feeling the strain of small incomes, bargain dealers like Amazon.com and Wal-Mart have seen a rise in popularity. Since these individuals have more budget constrains they are much more likely to make their electronic and entertainment purchases from these retailers than a store that specializes in such products like Best Buy. Another store that has experienced a similar problem recently is Circuit City.

The Best Buy layoffs did not come with forewarning. Back in December the company began offering the majority of its 4,000 corporate employees voluntary severance packages. Since only 500 individuals accepted the offer, company officials decided that mandatory layoffs were in order.

As of now, none of the employees who work in the company’s actual stores have been let go. Despite this, Nehring’s description of the restructuring that is in the works for the Best Buy’s retail operations shows that these positions could be affected at a later date. According to the Associated Press, she maintains that the company will do what’s best for its customers.

“We remain focused on growing our business and enabling local growth through customers and employees,” said Nehring. “The store changes are less about staff impacts and more about shifting labor dollars to where the customers are.”

News of the Minnesota job cuts seemingly caused stock in the company to rise. The day the layoffs were announced share prices rose 17 cents, causing the closing price to be $28.89.

Tags: Minneapolis Jobs

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 21st, 2009 at 4:42 am and is filed under Job Search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.