Best Buy is eliminating 399 Geek Squad positions, but is expected to offer those employees positions within the company.
The affected positions come from Geek Squad’s “Covert Team,” who work remotely to provide technical support to customers. Best Buy says it is transitioning many of them from remote agents to roles in stores or making house calls.
“Affected agents will have a job, if they choose, with similar pay and responsibilities,” Best Buy spokesperson Jeff Shelman said in a statement to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “ We very much want to keep them and are working hard to do that, especially because we currently have nearly 1,000 open jobs.”
The remote technical support positions will be outsourced, and anyone who does not take a different position in the company will receive a severance package.
According to the Star Tribune, Best Buy said it is making these changes to “meet the significant and evolving tech support needs of our customers,” in its letter to the state of Minnesota announcing the layoffs.