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BusinessBest Buy Geek Squad Agents ‘Going Sleeper’ After Mass Layoffs (404media.co)

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[–]9-11GaveMe5G 4224 points4225 points  (218 children)

“It sucks, I spent more than half my life with this company and sacrificed a lot of personal time and experiences just to be let go,” the laid-off worker said.

Hopefully someone learned a lesson about how much loyalty you can expect back from a company

[–]LigerXT5 868 points869 points  (116 children)

If the employer doesn't care about you outside of work, to help you, you should are not expected to give that level of dedication to your work.

[–]david76 748 points749 points  (100 children)

Company: we need two weeks notice...

 Also company: your last day is today. 

[–]Violoner 197 points198 points  (56 children)

Some places will even just straight up let you go before your notice period has ended

[–]david76 172 points173 points  (33 children)

I had that at a bank. I worked in technology, gave my noticed, and they said they would just pay me out. 

[–]Formal_Decision7250 333 points334 points  (15 children)

Thats a security feature really.

[–]InsuranceToTheRescue 101 points102 points  (12 children)

This. In all the big businesses I used to work they either wouldn't let you go back to your desk, someone else collected your things, or they had a team of 3+ people follow you around while you did it, before escorting you out of the building.

[–]squishyhikes 61 points62 points  (3 children)

Yup. One of the terms I did was messy. Guy couldn't get into his account, saying it was deleted (lol). His manager had to distract the guy with random tasks until IT worked on restoring his access.

We restored his access just for a hour, then he was told to pack his things to leave. I didn't like being part of that situation and to this day I think about that dude. He was distraught and knew something went on. Such a fucked up thing to do.

[–]geo_prog 58 points59 points  (1 child)

Back in 2015 Cenovus energy had a mass layoff. How did they tell folks they were let go? Did they take them aside and have their managers tell them face to face? Did they send an email to tell them to expect a severance package? Did they make them sit in their office with the door closed watching their colleagues get fired one by one for an entire week?

Nope. Well, they did that last one on the second round of layoffs but the first one was even more fucked up. They just revoked their access card privileges overnight so when they showed up at the Bow they couldn’t get through the security gate. That was the day I dropped Cenovus as a client. Fuck that company.

[–]Beowulf33232 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Dropping them as a client is the correct answer.

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    [–]Mathidium 52 points53 points  (1 child)

    My entire adult career has been this. I work in lending so it's a liability to have that much access to sensitive information. I mean we have account numbers, socials, credit cards, addresses. Why wouldn't they want you gone right then lol.

    [–]krazycatlady21 18 points19 points  (0 children)

    Dundler Miffin Stationary…

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        [–]Arkanor 42 points43 points  (10 children)

        I mean to be fair - isn't that better? They're still paying for your time but you don't have to do the work. They're not exactly ripping you off walking you out early with pay.

        [–]going-for-gusto 5 points6 points  (0 children)

        Granted if your paid, but not all pay, just show you the door.

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            [–]Suckage 40 points41 points  (16 children)

            My current employer does that. Their reasoning is that you’re going to check out the moment you give notice, so there’s no reason to let you collect another paycheck.

            It’s kind of a non-issue since everyone knows it though.. If you’re quitting, give your “two weeks” about an hour before CoB on your last day.

            [–]TexasTheWalkerRanger 41 points42 points  (4 children)

            I'm in the pipefitter union and it is widely accepted that you give a "two day" notice, as in you're quitting today. Contractors don't give you a heads up for layoffs so they get the same treatment. And anyone worth a fuck won't even be mad you're quitting, especially if it's to chase money elsewhere. The work culture is pretty awesome as far as that goes lol.

            [–]sassmo 42 points43 points  (3 children)

            IBEW member here. Didn't get into the trades until I was almost 40, and it blew my mind to see a guy running out the door with his tools to go catch his next call. He yelled over his shoulder to tell the foreskin to mail him his last check.

            [–]Squidimus 44 points45 points  (2 children)

            foreskin

            50/50 that was a typo judging from my brief time in construction.

            [–]sassmo 22 points23 points  (0 children)

            100% not a typo. That's just what we call someone who makes 10% more than us.

            [–]fitbeardedtattooed 9 points10 points  (0 children)

            Know what we do with a guy that doesn't know what he's doing? Give him a radio

            [–]cat_prophecy 10 points11 points  (9 children)

            If you care about your work and your coworkers even a little, usually the last two weeks are for sharing knowledge, backing up data, and bringing people up to speed on your projects.

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              [–]noodles_jd 12 points13 points  (0 children)

              They pay you for that though. Getting them out of there is about not having someone that's checked out around the office, but they still pay them for the full two weeks.

              [–]werepat 11 points12 points  (0 children)

              If that happens, it counts as early termination and you are entitled to unemployment assistance.

              Happened to me and I was able to not stress about finding a new job for six months while in California.

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                [–]user11711 14 points15 points  (2 children)

                In Brazil, you’re supposed to give a month notice, if you don’t you owe the company a months salary. Similarly, if they fire you, they as well have to give you a months notice/salary.

                [–]truedef 5 points6 points  (1 child)

                In Saudi it’s two months. And as an American I think that’s awesome they get that.

                Even the lowest labor jobs like a trash man or toilet scrubber has better employment rights than a trash man or janitor in the Us when it comes to being fired.

                [–]AMC_Unlimited 9 points10 points  (0 children)

                Immediately followed by “Security! we have a trespasser!” 

                [–]ubdesu 17 points18 points  (1 child)

                When I was leaving my last awful job I gave a 2 weeks, then shortly after submitted 2 weeks of vacation that was going to be lost forever anyway.

                Surprisingly enough they agreed to it so I had a little staycation while I got ready for my new job.

                [–]david76 7 points8 points  (0 children)

                Same. Got people to cover my shifts for two weeks then gave notice. 

                [–]dismayhurta 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                I had someone try to pull that on me once. Demanded I give two weeks. I just laughed. They claimed they’d never fire without notice. They fired a few people without notice a few weeks later.

                If I’ve found a new job, I’m bouncing. If I like my coworkers, I’ll have a handy document with how to do everything for when I’m out that I prepared before saying I’m gone.

                [–]AxlLight 17 points18 points  (14 children)

                I mean.. yeah, but you also get those 2 weeks paid. They just don't want you destroying their files and stealing stuff during those 2 week period so they'd rather you just stay home.

                [–]mrdm242 14 points15 points  (0 children)

                Exactly. Companies are more worried about (former) employees sabotaging things on the way out than setting up a graceful transition.

                [–]david76 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                Not necessarily. An employer is not obligated to pay you two weeks unless it is in a contract. 

                [–]Moist_When_It_Counts 12 points13 points  (6 children)

                What? Ive never seen a situation where someone got paid under that circumstance. It was

                Employee:“this is my week Notice”

                Employer: ok, you’re fired effective EoD.

                This was a fortune 500 professional job, but based out of a red state where you can be fired anytime for anything or nothing at all. Girl in this case was punted and paid ahit for those two weeks.

                [–]anotherlab 13 points14 points  (0 children)

                It happened to me (a long time ago) while working in the computer center for a large insurance company. Gave my notice and HR said it was company policy to pay out the two weeks notice, but that was it.

                [–]OutWithTheNew 3 points4 points  (3 children)

                She probably didn't go for the money as hard as she could have.

                [–]Moist_When_It_Counts 11 points12 points  (2 children)

                She was in sales. Was quantitatively the best on our team and when they asked if she could be retained, she cited the base salary of one of her male colleagues with similar experience would make her stay. That is, “pay me what he makes as base”.

                NOPE. GTFO effective immediately.

                Long story short, 3 years later she leads a sales team elsewhere and is overwhelmingly happier there.

                [–]OutWithTheNew 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                I meant any money she was owed because of the way she was dismissed after she gave notice.

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                      [–]squishyhikes 35 points36 points  (2 children)

                      I'm so glad my state is going to pass a law prohibiting employers from communicating to employees after hours. It's ridiculous there has to be a law, but here we are.

                      I thought I was doing a good job, been praised, etc. Come review time and I'm told that "I don't do enough." Maybe it's because when it hits 5PM, I'm out the door. I don't stay around to appease the boss, I don't brown nose and go to golf outings, none of that. Whatever it is, I learned that day to just brush off the whipping from employers and live your life. Say I'm not a hard worker because I choose my family over putting hours aside to go up the ladder? Lmao my dad went up the ladder and I lost years of my childhood that I wish I had with him, instead of playing with my Legos by myself.

                      Now at 35 with my own kid, I do the opposite. Leave on the dot to spend time with my family. You think the amount of time spent at work matters when you're dead? The only folks who'll remember that are your loved ones.

                      [–]TheWildTofuHunter 10 points11 points  (0 children)

                      Companies are writing your job description while your family is writing your obituary.

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                        [–]goldfaux 54 points55 points  (2 children)

                        Yep. Companies are not loyal to their employees. This is BS they try to feed their employees to get them to work harder for nothing. No employees should not be loyal to the company they work for. Being loyal and being ethical are very different things.

                        [–]jerryyaungy 17 points18 points  (1 child)

                        The worst thing you can do, particularly in the tech industry, is to be loyal to a corporation. Unfortunately, I have never heard positive things about Geek Squad. It was inevitable.

                        [–]R0kksteady 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                        It’s a good place to start so you learn how to handle the general public and their technology. Especially if you are going into IT because you see a wide array of systems and spectacular user errors which you will see when you go get your real job. But yeah, don’t stick around.

                        [–]fckcarrots 10 points11 points  (0 children)

                        If the employer doesn’t care about its customers enough, then employees don’t stand a chance.

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                          [–]jeremiahlupinski 117 points118 points  (29 children)

                          For real, if you work for company that requires you to wear their uniform don’t expect any loyalty back.

                          [–]Lucavii 119 points120 points  (25 children)

                          if you work for company don’t expect any loyalty back.

                          FTFY.

                          ​

                          And before anyone gets crabby yes I know there are those rare unicorns out there but for 99% of us this is not the case. A "company" is not a "person" in the literal sense. They are not capable of loyalty

                          [–]UnhappyPage 20 points21 points  (22 children)

                          Those rare unicorns are basically all not for profits and small private businesses. If the company has shareholders that is who management will be loyal to.

                          [–]kvlt_ov_personality 58 points59 points  (4 children)

                          Honestly, I've worked for 501c's and family owned businesses, and they were some of the worst, most abusive workplace experiences ever. I'd rather get axed randomly by a soulles corpo and move onto the next one.

                          [–]TheTurboDiesel 14 points15 points  (0 children)

                          Yeah, it's a really short trip from "we're a family here" to "c'mon, you can work just a few extra unpaid hours...do it for the family!"

                          [–]Elephunkitis 18 points19 points  (2 children)

                          If they ever say “we are a family” run!

                          [–]Arkayb33 8 points9 points  (1 child)

                          "We are a family. Last year I had to give up my 10 year old for adoption in order to afford my new truck. You can expect the same treatment."

                          [–]Lucavii 7 points8 points  (2 children)

                          Ironically I made that statement while working for a unicorn. They are a massive company but are privately owned and are incredible to work for. But yes, if it's a public company you are a number.

                          [–]semisolidwhale 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                          Not really, they'll happily fuck over shareholders in the long term as well so long as the short term executive incentives are there to promote it

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                              [–]umbrlla 17 points18 points  (0 children)

                              It’s not any different if you don’t wear a uniform though.

                              [–]Kakarot_faps 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                              Idk what you’d expect Best Buy to do here, they’re not exactly a business of the future. I don’t care what organization it is or if it legitimately does have loyalty matter, if they’re hemorrhaging money with a dead business model they have no way to keep you

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                                [–]furyofsaints 24 points25 points  (0 children)

                                And then these companies wonder why their employees aren’t at max productivity all the time. Because we know you’re going to fuck us, we just don’t know when. So fuck you first.

                                [–]VirtualPlate8451 29 points30 points  (9 children)

                                Working in tech support requires job hopping to truly be successful. Take two equally skilled people, put one at a big company for 10 years and another guy who stuck around for about 2-3 years and then sought out higher roles.

                                That second guy is going to be in a better role than the guy who stayed at one company for that whole time.

                                [–]9-11GaveMe5G 31 points32 points  (3 children)

                                You're not wrong, but I hate it. The idea of all that work job hunting just for the reward of more work. I often think about these systems we've set up as humans and they're just so tiresome and wasteful.

                                [–]VirtualPlate8451 9 points10 points  (2 children)

                                It’s given me perspective. I know what it’s like to work for a really shitty boss or company but I also know what it’s like to finally find the promised land.

                                I’m in a role right now that I like so much that I wouldn’t event entertain other offers. My team is great, the company treats me well and I’m very well compensated.

                                [–]rockstarsball 10 points11 points  (0 children)

                                i dont want to kick a bunch of people when theyre down; but geek squad support when i worked there like 20 years ago was filled with the shittiest techs imaginable who were also somehow far up their own asses. My help desk interns could troubleshoot circles around them and they were specifically trained on the upsell to trick consumers into buying crappy overpriced software that did little to nothing to resolve their problem. My clearest memory was of a morbidly obese manager who used to search hard drives for all picture files and then show the other techs any nudes he found and claimed it was a "security audit".

                                I feel bad for the laid off workers, but like c'mon, you guys sucked.

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                                  [–]Djinnwrath 14 points15 points  (4 children)

                                  I wonder how many people need to learn this lesson directly before we're motivated to actually change the situation?

                                  [–]Migamix 7 points8 points  (2 children)

                                  but we have to have jobs so we can spend 16.95 on a dozen eggs. 90% of workers in the world would love to say the same thing, but forever job hunting for the perfect gig, doesnt pay the bills.

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                                    [–]somaliaveteran 15 points16 points  (0 children)

                                    I gave 5 plus years to Tesla and only took 1 week of vacation and worked 50-70 hours a week non stop 5-6 days a week.

                                    Offered a severance package a week ago and handed my hat. The most experienced person on my team….it hurts.

                                    It took me decades to look back on my career and only now I realize how insignificant employees really are in the corporate landscape.

                                    If you fall over dead, they will have someone replace you tomorrow.

                                    [–]SirJelly 13 points14 points  (1 child)

                                    To the rich, workers are merely resources to be consumed, just like paper, or hammers.

                                    [–]Safe-Indication-1137 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                                    This is why I never drink the Kool aid... work is a business transaction nothing more 

                                    [–]WhatsUrPinNumber 16 points17 points  (0 children)

                                    18 years with the same company, corporate, let me go like I was a bag of shit on a hot summer day. In this case it was a mass cut... You ask me, it was largely ageism (was 60 and so were many others).

                                    DON'T EVER FALL FOR THE LOYALTY SHIT!!

                                    [–]ThatWontFit 14 points15 points  (3 children)

                                    I worked at GS for almost 5 years. Learned skills that I use in my life every damn day, won't regret the experience.

                                    Retail is the devil and you should never sacrifice a second for these corporations. They also attract fucking psychopaths and predators in upper management.

                                    I'll never forget the manager that was over GS gave me a write up for insubordination since I wouldn't fix a pc he told some pretty girl would be fixed for free. This same guy also hired an agent who couldn't tell you what USB meant but she was gorgeous and had an amazing rack.

                                    When I quit to start my corporate future he had the audacity to come to me with a shocked face "why didn't you tell me you were leaving, we could have worked something out."

                                    Eat shit Melvin.

                                    Agents who are being laid off or have been, you've been given more skills than you think. Being able to talk technical with everyday lamen people is a damn good skill and one that every organization finds valuable.

                                    [–]BYoungNY 9 points10 points  (1 child)

                                    I had to remind my wif, who was an ER nurse during covid, that if she died tomorrow, they'd have her job posted next week. Yes she has friends there, but they absolutely took advantage of that so that employees wouldn't call out on each other.

                                    [–]moderatenerd 23 points24 points  (6 children)

                                    As an ex-employee from the pandemic i noticed Best Buy has a weird pull on its employees. A lot of kids feel like they should spend their whole lives there and many aspire to do just that. Even if they are stuck as a geek squad agent. They get pissed at the company changes then 5-10 years go by and they get fired and they act like woah is me. Best Buy left me hanging with no options.

                                    No you didn't better yourself when you stayed retail for 5 years!! And now your 30 with no job prospects other than more retail.

                                    [–]Rampaging_Bunny 13 points14 points  (3 children)

                                    I dunno, don’t these types know about transferable skills into IT help desk and the like? I’d assume that’s the play, long term, for most of the kids starting in Geek squad. It’s that or opening their own PC repair store in a strip mall in a random city. 

                                    [–]moderatenerd 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                                    Being friends with many for some reason they'd rather stick with Best Buy. It's like they can't picture themselves doing anything else. They have some really great sales people and i mentioned they go into car sales and then actual tech sales to make big bucks. They are all still working at Best Buy 3 years later. I moved on and got a govt job.

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                                        [–]Traditional_Mud_1241 6 points7 points  (1 child)

                                        There *is* another lesson here.

                                        "Once you've been with a company for 4-5 years, you're probably very much underpaid".

                                        The whole situation absolutely sucks, but a pretty high percentage of the competent techs will end up with higher paying jobs.

                                        I quit a job years ago because of health issues (and because I hated the company's culture so I knew I wouldn't be back). After 6 months I was healthy enough to go back to work and started a job at ~35% more pay.

                                        Clearly, not everyone will land on their feet, but a lot of people will find out just how much they were underpaid.

                                        [–]mrBigBoi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                        Like my boss says-I can tolerate anything if you make me money, the moment you stop doing this, you can be ready to be let go.

                                        [–]going-for-gusto 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                        Key to this comment is “a company”, never kid yourself about loyalty to a company, “we are family”,until you are not.

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                                          [–]Windflower1956 860 points861 points  (28 children)

                                          I cringe when people are laid off and they say, “Well they cut my hours last year, so…” From experience, believe me: the very day they cut your hours or cut out a shift, that’s the canary in the coal mine. Start looking elsewhere asap.

                                          Edit: I just thought I’d add that this shit is not new. I’m 68 years old. The first (and ONLY) time this happened to me was in 1974. My first job. It was a company of 400+ employees in a small town. We got cut from 8hrs a day M-F to 6hrs a day M-F. Jussst enough that — at the time — it was impossible to go find another job on your off hours. Then came the small cuts; a few people this week; a few more the next. By the time the whole thing went to shit, only the people that got out first and hustled fast found new jobs. That lesson stuck with me.

                                          [–]RDP1818 81 points82 points  (1 child)

                                          My job cut 2nd shift just two weeks ago and I’ve tried telling people to find another job but they think I’m overreacting

                                          [–]hivemind_disruptor 9 points10 points  (0 children)

                                          These people doesn't know. In the company they are going to lie, outside people don't know shit. Keep look. Find you a job with similar pay.

                                          [–]ind3pend0nt 181 points182 points  (8 children)

                                          Start? Don’t stop looking.

                                          [–]Windflower1956 55 points56 points  (0 children)

                                          Even better 👍

                                          [–]ProteinStain 27 points28 points  (2 children)

                                          100% This. As someone who experienced the 2007/2008 crash and was out of work for two+ years when not even McDonald's would hire me.
                                          I've never stopped looking.

                                          Always always always keep your options open. Company loyalty is just pure ignorance.
                                          The risk and cost of running a business has been slowly placed upon the back of the working classes.
                                          We are responsible for our own Healthcare, retirement, job training. And now, with the rise of gig working, you are now responsible for EVERYTHING! tools/assets, managing your taxes, acting as your own little HR if you are an Uber driver.

                                          And yet, in all of that, who gets the lions share of the profit? That's right, the assholes sitting in some corporate office in NY bitching about having to pay a livable wage to these "contractors".

                                          Fuck corporations, and fuck company loyalty. Get the best job you can whenever you can, I promise you, the company you work for doesn't give a flying fuck about you.

                                          [–]Angry_Robot 9 points10 points  (2 children)

                                          Don’t stop believing.

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                                            [–]elictronic 17 points18 points  (0 children)

                                            Same rule for startups.  If they furlough, pivot suddenly, or have funding issue time to run.  

                                            [–]neekz0r 55 points56 points  (3 children)

                                            This isn't a call out to you, specifically as this has happened in my own time.

                                            In the while ago, companies only used to lay people off if they were facing an unprofitable couple of years and they needed to hunker down.

                                            Then, it was a lay-off if they had an unprofitable year.

                                            Then, it was a lay-off if they had an unprofitable quarter.

                                            Now, it's a lay-off if they don't profit enough in a quarter.

                                            I wonder how long before companies just refuse to have FTEs and instead only have shitty, 3 month contracts. With the coming AI storm, probably not too long.

                                            [–]Windflower1956 4 points5 points  (1 child)

                                            It was the aviation industry. Then —and now — they’ll lay you off if they don’t like the shirt you’re wearing.

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                                              [–]flummox1234 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                                              I worked as a contractor at a company that was constantly downsizing in the 2000's. Didn't affect my contract but it was kind of mind boggling to see the employees watch their coworkers get laid off one by one and still stay with the company. The place was all empty offices with a few people working by the time my contract ended there.

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                                                [–]M_Mich 882 points883 points  (24 children)

                                                “It sucks, I spent more than half my life with this company and sacrificed a lot of personal time and experiences just to be let go,” the laid-off worker said.

                                                This is why you shouldn’t sacrifice your personal time and experiences for a company that you don’t own. You’re a data point to the executives that making millions while complaining about the dimes they pay you.

                                                I feel for these employees. I had a retail job end when I showed up and a security guard was controlling who could enter as the company shut down.

                                                [–]ovo_Reddit 181 points182 points  (6 children)

                                                When I worked at Geek Squad, I was going to the washroom and the sales manager walks in at the same time. He says to me “you called in sick yesterday?” I said yeah. He tells me “when I’m sick and even puking. Or when I broke my leg, I still show up for work. You need to show more determination. The next time you call in sick without a doctors note I’ll need to write you up”

                                                My response: “I’m a part-timer, why would I have the same level of dedication as you? I make 12$ an hour. If you need to write me up, do what you gotta do”

                                                He never brought the subject up again. I’ve called in plenty of times after that.

                                                People need to realize that work is just work. You aren’t making the world a better place. You are not helping anyone in need. You are selling marked up products while shoving warranty brochures down everyone’s throat. It’s very rare that someone is working in a position that actually makes a positive difference/impact. For all other positions, don’t sacrifice anything to make the execs an extra buck.

                                                [–]Kamioni 43 points44 points  (1 child)

                                                I was an ARA at a larger store a few years ago, and if a sales manager talked to me like that, he would be the one in trouble. Our GSM always had our back because he knew that if he lost us, it would be a nightmare to find a good replacement that is skilled enough to do the job efficiently for the level of pay that they offer. It was a higher volume store in the city and when we lost 2 ARAs, we had to straight up just turn away some clients or send them to another store while we figured out replacements.

                                                I stayed for almost 5 years, mostly because of how cool all my coworkers and boss were. Work is just work, but it makes a huge difference when you feel properly respected by your boss and peers.

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                                                  [–]Arkayb33 172 points173 points  (11 children)

                                                  It's pretty effed up when 5 executives, making around $2M each, look at the salary costs for 10,000 people and only see one gigantic number, like $400M. They think "Damn, we are spending waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much on this bucket!" and think that they can reduce it 10% and no one will notice a difference. In their mind, THEY are the minority and deserve a higher pay because their workforce is making 200x as much as they are.

                                                  So 1000 people get laid off, just like that.

                                                  [–]ovo_Reddit 49 points50 points  (8 children)

                                                  I can’t recall exactly, but a geek squad member that works there for like 10 years is given a badge. And 15 years a jacket.

                                                  They are so out of touch with reality.

                                                  [–]Jimbo-Shrimp 10 points11 points  (0 children)

                                                  I can't imagine working for one company for 15 years unless it's like right next door to my house

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                                                      [–]loves_grapefruit 45 points46 points  (2 children)

                                                      Loyalty should be exchanged for loyalty. Even the Mafia knows how to do that. Shame those days are long gone for corporate America.

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                                                        [–]fatherofdoggoz 323 points324 points  (35 children)

                                                        I used to work at Best Buy, stores 32 and 33 and then 150 when I moved to California. I was a PC tech before there was a geek squad. The other day I had the occasion to visit the store in person to pick up an open box dishwasher I got for like half off. It was kind of astonishing. Counters were unattended, I mean, like, customer service. When I was there before customer service was never unattended. Apparently they also no longer have to wear khakis with the blue shirts, I would've killed to have worn jeans. But whatever. But yeah the whole store just seemed messy and disorganized and sparse. They have eliminated the 12 V section entirely which I guess kind of makes sense but still, sad to see it go, that's where I got my start. The whole experience seemed very diminished.

                                                        [–]BerreeTM 143 points144 points  (17 children)

                                                        I worked at 150 for 4 years. In that small time they removed employee accommodations & the quarterly bonus, merged most departments, cut all lead positions along with half the managers and expected whoever was left to pick up the slack. Department specialist went out the window, any blue shirt was expected to work customer service, checkout, pickup, and all other departments when needed. My last straw was internally applying for a full time position just for them to go with a seasonal hire…blew my mind and I quit a week later.

                                                        [–]fatherofdoggoz 26 points27 points  (11 children)

                                                        Wow... We never had quarterly bonuses (at least not at my level; part time product specialist at various times for Car & Home Audio, PC/Home Office, a CS Rep 1, 2, and 3; and finally as a PC Tech). And employee accommodations was a crappy break room in the back? But not having PRODs seems ... Just, wow.

                                                        I was @ 150 (summers at 33 or 32) '95–'00, ancient history.

                                                        [–]TootSweetBeatMeat 29 points30 points  (5 children)

                                                        Was an associate somewhere around 2009 and only Mobile associates were getting bonuses. I was in home office. Not sure what was worse, hung over falling down the ladder while carrying the last CRT monitor in existence cause some asshole didn't want to spring for a flatscreen for his mother in law's new computer, or the fact that a dozen people per weekend assumed I was personally responsible for the travesty known as Windows Vista.

                                                        [–]Drizzle_of_Poison 19 points20 points  (2 children)

                                                        I KNEW somebody was personally responsible for Windows Vista! Finally found you!!

                                                        [–]MrTinkels 5 points6 points  (1 child)

                                                        Now if we can just find that asshole responsible for Windows ME!

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                                                          [–]BerreeTM 4 points5 points  (3 children)

                                                          I was there in 2016, quarterly bonuses were based on store performance so not guaranteed but nice to get. Employee accommodations were a discount directly from vendors, usually between 40-80% off MSRP in limited quantities. I go in occasionally and its pretty shocking how poorly the store is doing now.

                                                          [–]fatherofdoggoz 5 points6 points  (2 children)

                                                          Ah, we rarely got vendor price sheets we could order from, but we always got 5% over store cost as an employee discount. So like a car stereo might be 7-20% off, but the install kit (15.99 sticker) would be like $1.62, and the Monster cables ($27.99) would be like $3.19.

                                                          I was kinda shocked Circuit City fell while Best Buy survived ...

                                                          [–]C64128 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                                                          We were excited when we got a CompUSA. That didn't last long.

                                                          I used to go shopping (sometimes just looking) on Fridays to Circuit City, Best Buy, Borders, Barnes and Noble, and possibly Sears. They were all very close together.

                                                          That Best Buy moved to a smaller store, everything else closed. We still have a Barnes and Noble in a different location. Retail shopping has changed a lot.

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                                                            [–]omgFWTbear 10 points11 points  (2 children)

                                                            Sounds like the middle of the “death of circuit city” post mortem.

                                                            [–]Mustang1718 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                                                            The literal plan as of ~2022 was to start closing out the brick and mortar stores and have people come to the supply warehouses to pick up things like their appliances. They had a whole bunch of data of how their online sales were booming and this shift shows the stores aren't needed as much.

                                                            The data was from 2020-2022. Wanna take a wild guess about what was happening in the world around then?

                                                            [–]tokyo_engineer_dad 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                                                            They got brutalized by Amazon in the early 2010's. When the one button purchase feature went live, they've been limping along ever since. They give extended warranties practically at cost now with ther Total Membership. I worked at Chula Vista and El Centro from 2007-2009. It was a life changing opportunity for me and I'm forever thankful for them. But I remember my last day and my boss said, "you've always been the smartest kid I ever worked with, and you're showing how smart you are by walking out." I had gotten accepted to my dream school and wanted to be an engineer. I would never have even made it to university if it weren't for BBY hiring me.

                                                            But yeah writing has been on the wall for some time. I still love taking my daughter there so she can run around. They had a slight uptick during the pandemic due to a high amount of home purchases and the GPU boom, but they can only avoid Circuit City's fate for so long. Ironically I worked at Circuit City back in 2003.

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                                                              [–]PM_COFFEE_TO_ME 35 points36 points  (3 children)

                                                              I went to a random best buy a few years ago in a rural city. They didn't have any usb c to usb a cables. I asked multiple people and most didn't even know what usb c was. Disappointed.

                                                              [–]Jimbo-Shrimp 21 points22 points  (2 children)

                                                              That's just retail now. When I was in Target electronics we had 2 employees who didn't even know what a PS4 was.

                                                              [–]LiberContrarion 3 points4 points  (1 child)

                                                              Uh... I don't know what a PS is for.

                                                              [–]welmoe 15 points16 points  (6 children)

                                                              I thought it was just me but I think the writing is on the wall for Best Buy. I was in one a few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon and the parking lot was pretty much empty. Inside the aisles were sparse with limited stock of anything. Maybe I went during a transition period but what can BB offer that I can't get from an online retailer at a cheaper price?

                                                              [–]schwartzki 10 points11 points  (1 child)

                                                              They will price match most things online so I tend to buy there vs Amazon if I can.

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                                                                  [–]Nkosi868 118 points119 points  (12 children)

                                                                  “We were notified via email Tuesday about a ‘work from home event’ taking place Wednesday about a ‘company change,’” they said.

                                                                  There can’t be a heaven for the person who devised this scheme.

                                                                  [–]Nandor_De_Laurentis 43 points44 points  (5 children)

                                                                  True, but I'd rather not drive in to work just to be fired.

                                                                  [–]Nkosi868 12 points13 points  (1 child)

                                                                  I’ve seen it happen to colleagues en masse before. I guess this is the better option.

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                                                                    [–]IntellegentIdiot 9 points10 points  (2 children)

                                                                    "Woo! Finally work from home!"

                                                                    [–]C64128 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                                    You know they couldn't notify people in person because there'd be a possibility of an ass kicking.

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                                                                      [–]LeoSolaris 243 points244 points  (38 children)

                                                                      I wonder how many Geek Squad competitors this is going to spawn. All it takes is a labeled work van, supplies, tools, and enough competent people available to get it done. That's a pretty small business loan, comparatively speaking.

                                                                      [–]cold08 242 points243 points  (27 children)

                                                                      A big chunk of the computer repair part of their business is gone because computers don't break as much anymore. I worked for a similar service to Geek Squad and 90% of what I did you don't have to do anymore with integrated virus protection and Microsoft edge integrated in Windows 10. The new routers are installed with phone apps, and everything else with networking is QR codes. There will always be a market for mounting TV's and running cables, but the super tech illiterate are dying and tech is getting so easy to use and robust that Geek Squad is a thing of the past.

                                                                      [–]varnell_hill 134 points135 points  (5 children)

                                                                      Not only that, but tech has also become stupid cheap to replace and thus more disposable. Doesn’t make much sense to pay $100 to fix a $300 computer.

                                                                      [–]cold08 46 points47 points  (4 children)

                                                                      That and now that phones are the new cameras and PCs backup automatically, you don't have people storing 10 years worth of photos on their PC anymore, they won't spend unlimited money to get their data back.

                                                                      [–]epicnding 18 points19 points  (3 children)

                                                                      When I did PC break/fix, it was a lot of HDD failures. SSD's don't fail nearly as much as HDD back in the day

                                                                      [–]PumaHunter 5 points6 points  (1 child)

                                                                      Did you rebuild HDDs or use imaging software?

                                                                      [–]epicnding 14 points15 points  (0 children)

                                                                      It was consumer level break/fix. Transferred as much data off as possible, install new HDD(or replace with SSD), transfer back their data if applicable. Only had a couple instances of catastrophic data loss and sent it off to Seagate for data recovery. Usually "this external hard drive has ALL of my kids' photo history on it. I will pay anything to get them back" or "my entire business is on that laptop and I absolutely need the data" situations.

                                                                      [–]cold08 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                                      Those old Dells man, had to make a lot of phone calls.

                                                                      [–]Oracle_of_Ages 57 points58 points  (0 children)

                                                                      My friend runs the computer repair counter at the place he works. Store will be unnamed. (It is a BB competitor though)

                                                                      75% of the people he gets old men with viruses from porn.

                                                                      The other 25% is actual computer issues. With a large percentage of that just being by boomer error. He gets so little actual issues.

                                                                      [–]thatirishguyyyy 14 points15 points  (0 children)

                                                                      Recently decided to move from Florida to the Midwest. I'm having issues finding a suitable technician or company that can do security cameras, networking, IoT, and everything in between when I move. Decided to just keep the business here and contract with my current group of contractors.

                                                                      So many companies call my company to come wire access control, network a DVR, or figure out why a router isn't working. And these are much, much larger companies. I have a two man IT consulting business and I'm swamped.

                                                                      [–]Safe_Community2981 8 points9 points  (0 children)

                                                                      And of course the flip side of tech getting so easy to use and robust is that when it does go wrong you need someone a hell of a lot more knowledgeable and capable to fix it than Geek Squad because whatever broke is going to need some deep voodoo to fix.

                                                                      [–]crackalac 18 points19 points  (4 children)

                                                                      I did this job for 8 years. You'd be surprised how many people look at you like you are speaking Latin if you ask them for an HDMI cable or their wifi password. Half my clients would have to call a family member from another state to answer the latter.

                                                                      [–]_yeen 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                                                                      It will get bad then good again as Gen Z + Alpha grow up. Apparently tech literacy is lower now because tech has been simplified too much now.

                                                                      [–]THIS_GUY_LIFTS 12 points13 points  (4 children)

                                                                      Eh. Computers are breaking just as much as they did in the past. Typical trend is that the device fails within warranty and is just flat-out replaced by the manufacturer. There is also the issue with repairs to devices being required to be done by the manufacturer or an authorized repair shop. There is going to be a tech illiterate surge soon as well. It's happening right now actually. There is an entire generation entering the workforce that don't know how to truly use electronics. They understand how to navigate a flashy GUI, but have little to no understanding of the device itself. I have assisted multiple younger people that do not know or understand that you can restart a computer. Hell, Ctrl + Alt + Delete is a concept beyond their understanding. If there are settings that are not operated by using a slider/button, there is no other troubleshooting they are capable of.

                                                                      There is a very big difference between being "tech savvy" with a GUI and being able to troubleshoot a technical issue.

                                                                      [–]cold08 8 points9 points  (1 child)

                                                                      I repaired computers for a long time. Probably 90% of the issues were software, usually malware, which was more or less fixed with Windows 10 and Edge. The hardware problems were usually ancient hard drives, which have been mitigated by more reliable HDDs and SSDs.

                                                                      The reason why people can't troubleshoot computers anymore is because they don't have to. Computers don't need troubleshooting enough for it to be worth learning the skill. I've only had to fix my computer a handful of times since upgrading to Windows 10 (mostly printer related, go figure), so for the average person, contacting technical support is probably a better option than learning about computers.

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                                                                        [–]Timely-Eggplant4919 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                                        Plus I feel like a lot of people have been conditioned to just buy new stuff when their old stuff stops working.

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                                                                          [–]Solemn-Philosopher 13 points14 points  (0 children)

                                                                          I concur with the other replies.

                                                                          I work for a large business and we shut down most of our tech support services during covid (which was already slowly dying). I also do a bit of computer support on the side for friends/family and I receive considerably less calls or emails these days (less free lunches for me unfortunately).

                                                                          Windows has become more reliable and secure, casual users are using phones/tablets more often, people are generally more tech savvy, and some of my older family members that needed the most help have died (sadly).

                                                                          [–]Zettomer 7 points8 points  (0 children)

                                                                          That already happened. There's not a lot, but it's not that big pf a market. Enough that best buy's geek squad, which often isn't even allowed to properly fix things even if they know how to, has been pushed out of the market. Geek squad's primary gig is wiping your rig and reinstalling Windows. There's a reason the department is massively failing.

                                                                          [–]bobartig 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                                                                          You've got this backwards. Mom and Pop computer stores and support were legacy industries swallowed up by centralization and changing economics of home computers. This will spawn about as many tech support competitors as it will VCR Repair Shops.

                                                                          [–]FragrantExcitement 18 points19 points  (4 children)

                                                                          Enough competent people is not geek squad.

                                                                          [–]DarkGemini1979 21 points22 points  (3 children)

                                                                          Geek Squad was a mix of hyper-talented individuals who were working towards the next step, or hyper... untalented.

                                                                          Almost 20 years on, most of my former GS bench work in various roles in corporate IT or software development, myself included.

                                                                          [–]randgan 7 points8 points  (0 children)

                                                                          Back in my GS days, it was also a place to dump manager favorites because it was a higher pay band than anything else outside of management. So you would have 2 or 3 knowledgeable technicians keeping things running.

                                                                          I can't say I learned too much relevant about IT in my time there. I had to learn that myself. But I did learn valuable skills in working with clients and creative problem solving.

                                                                          [–]rabidjellybean 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                                                                          Bottom level IT is always like that. A bunch of people looking for the next step in a career mixed with people that struggle to breathe but know something about computers.

                                                                          [–]teraflux 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                                                                          Worked there 15 years ago, it definitely helped as a stepping stone towards landing my career job.

                                                                          [–]AxlLight 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                                          I'm assuming they scraped it because nowadays there just isn't that much of a market for it as there was before. The average non-techie person who might've used their services in the past to connect computers, fix wifi issues, fix some weird bug, let's be honest - 99% was fix the printer - just no longer need it. Most have laptops or even just tablets that are very self maintained compared to a desktop, wifis don't crap out anymore at least not as much as they used to and who still prints anything these days?

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                                                                            [–]phroztbyt3 88 points89 points  (13 children)

                                                                            15 years ago I was a double agent. I had the highest sales in the district for almost a year straight. Clients loved me, techs loved me, management minus one dickhead loved me.

                                                                            I got let go for working 1 minute off the clock in which case said minute I was creating a rescue disc because mine was scratched up to high hell. "Zero tolerance"

                                                                            Fuck best buy, and fuck geeksquad. They did the greatest thing ever by firing me. I doubled my salary 2 years later and worked remotely the entire time to this day, growing my KnowledgeBase and never having to sell bullshit needless services ever again.

                                                                            [–]klumze 20 points21 points  (1 child)

                                                                            I was the 1st double agent at my store also! I was laid off 13 years ago and it was the best career change ever. I still have my Bronze Badge #614. Loved driving the beetle and giving out free T-shirts.

                                                                            [–]phroztbyt3 7 points8 points  (0 children)

                                                                            Haha nice. Yeah I miss that stupid hockey puck car lol. I was 2 months away from CSA but what can ya do. We've at this point hired 3 GS agents for our company. They would literally never go back either so I'll call it a win.

                                                                            Good riddance, that company got so toxic.

                                                                            [–]IntellegentIdiot 17 points18 points  (3 children)

                                                                            15 years ago I was a double agent

                                                                            I thought this was going to be how you secretly worked for some other company to bring Best Buy down

                                                                            [–]phroztbyt3 11 points12 points  (2 children)

                                                                            Lol. There were silly titles: agent, double agent, special agent, certified special agent.

                                                                            That was their whole shtick. Except instead of looking like 007, we looked like extra geeky McDonald's employees.

                                                                            [–]AgentScreech 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                                                                            Nasa inspired. You know that.

                                                                            I was also a DCI, deputy of counter intelligence. You know like the counter part of a shelf

                                                                            It was a fancy name for supervisor

                                                                            [–]pokebikes 3 points4 points  (4 children)

                                                                            Someone dropped off a gift to me for helping them and I got fired for accepting it. Fuckin Best Buy man. Now I work in med-tech, leading AI-med advancement in my pillar. Best thing that happened to me was getting fired by a dickhead manager for a stupid reason.

                                                                            [–]brothertax 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                                                                            I got let go for making a rescue disc too. Around the time they started cracking down on that. Best thing to happen to me. Kick started my career in small business IT. Now work for a $11B company doing SCCM/Intune Windows management.

                                                                            [–]phroztbyt3 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                                            That's awesome yo 👏 . Grats. I'm an azure architect. Sort of just the evolution I guess 😜

                                                                            [–]nzodd 102 points103 points  (6 children)

                                                                            I can tell you the brand of the case fans of all sixteen computers in the building. I can tell you that our landlord uses Dvorak and the guy who smells like free 7-Eleven chili weighs three hundred fifteen pounds and knows how to write drivers in Sparc assembler. I know the best place to look for a pirated media is USENET, and at this level of physical inactivity, I can't run half a step before my hands start shaking. Now why would I know that? How can I know that and not know who I am?

                                                                            [–]FriendShapedRMT 31 points32 points  (1 child)

                                                                            I will never not upvote a Jason Bourne reference.

                                                                            It’s what I was programmed to do!

                                                                            [–]teraflux 10 points11 points  (0 children)

                                                                            God thank you that was killing me

                                                                            [–]osirisphotography 18 points19 points  (2 children)

                                                                            welp I know what I'm doing this weekend.

                                                                            [–]might-be-your-daddy 12 points13 points  (1 child)

                                                                            Beginning a workout routine?

                                                                            That's what I am thinking of doing...

                                                                            [–]netgizmo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                                            hello_string:
    .asciz "Hello World\n"

.section ".text"
.global main

main:
    set hello_string, %o0
    mov 12, %o1
    mov 1, %o2
    mov 4, %g1
    ta 0
    mov 1, %g1
    mov 0, %o0
    ta 0

                                                                            [–]SaviorSixtySix 66 points67 points  (10 children)

                                                                            Loyalty to a company is the worst thing you can do, especially in technology. Sadly, I've never heard anything good from Geek Squad. It was bound to happen.

                                                                            [–]Broad_Boot_1121 11 points12 points  (8 children)

                                                                            Not sure what you are talking about. I did appliance repair through Geek Squad for a few years and they were great. Good pay, good benefits, and whatever equipment I needed to complete my job. As far as major companies go Best Buy treats their employees really well.

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                                                                              [–]faradofay 18 points19 points  (2 children)

                                                                              Come to the academic arena my IT brothers. Lower pay but work life balance, pension and full health care for less than i spend on coffee each month. Also it is not an "At Will" employment and schools rarely go out of business.....

                                                                              [–]Vericatov 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                                              The pay is probably better compared to working at Best Buy. I know from experience. It was my first IT job.

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                                                                                [–]HikingStick 15 points16 points  (8 children)

                                                                                In Minnesota, at least, mass layoffs without a 90-day notice (for larger companies—Best Buy is definitely qualifies as one of those) is against the law. They'll likely be sued by the attorney general on the behalf of the state, and the damages would be significant.

                                                                                [–]iamtehryan 5 points6 points  (7 children)

                                                                                I wouldn't count on that, at all. I worked there for a decade in the offices and made it through like five or so separate mass layoffs. Not once was there a heads up or a 90 day period and not once did they get in trouble. My guess is that they always kept it below a threshold that would trigger a law being broken.

                                                                                I won't shop there anymore, and haven't in years. The shit they pull and the bullshit practices, not to mention the whole thing with potentially no longer supporting lgbtq orgs because of some guy... No thanks. They can die their slow death.

                                                                                [–]BusRepresentative576 49 points50 points  (8 children)

                                                                                The rich never take pay cuts. Power to the people, keep organizing and stay together.

                                                                                [–]Western_Promise3063 10 points11 points  (5 children)

                                                                                "But one day I might be rich so because of that I'm going to hate anything associated with socialism forever" - 40% of the stupid mouth breathing knuckle draggers who live in this country

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                                                                                  [–]klumze 4 points5 points  (3 children)

                                                                                  I was laid off from Best Buy a little over 13 years ago. I was there for over 8 years starting in the store before Geek Squad and I was the 1st agent from that store when they rolled out the program. I worked that job 2 years before transferring to the service center closer to home. The service center laid off over 400 employees at the same time in 2009 and despite being there for 8 years I was part of them. BTW they kept people who have worked there for 1 year or less. I was at the top level of pay and position for the repair role. Looks like its happening again.

                                                                                  [–]irishyardball 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                                                                                  Found this during the last round of layoffs: https://www.warntracker.com/

                                                                                  I check it pretty regularly now.

                                                                                  [–]jenjavitis 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                                                                                  Minneapolis here. I remember when Best Buy bought Geek Squad and my friends who worked there were excited. But almost all of them were eventually let go and they hired people for very low wages. Doesn't surprise me BB ran this super cool company right into the ground.

                                                                                  [–]Kurotan 35 points36 points  (12 children)

                                                                                  Best Buy seems to be dying a slow death. I'm not sure why anyone is surprised by Mass layoffs. We used to have 3 in my city, now there is one like 30 minutes away on the other end of town. I basically stopped shopping there when the physical store left, I don't even order online from them anymore.

                                                                                  [–]TrueTimmy 37 points38 points  (6 children)

                                                                                  I have actually gone back to using them for tech. Amazon and Newegg have too many sellers and too much bloat, plus their shipping is pretty comparable on a lot of products to Amazons.

                                                                                  [–]lordderplythethird 17 points18 points  (4 children)

                                                                                  NewEgg literally never packages things correctly. 2 HHDs and a CPU thrown in a huge box with no packaging material was the absolute last straw for me.

                                                                                  BestBuy if I need it now.

                                                                                  Amazon if I need it this week.

                                                                                  Microcenter if it can wait until I make my next pilgrimage.

                                                                                  [–]TrueTimmy 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                                                                                  Newegg has gotten so bad, their return process was a nightmare for me a couple years ago, and I decided it was pointless to use them over Best Buy after that.

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                                                                                      [–]KhausTO 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                                                                                      There was a period of time where they refused to price match online stores, just as online purchasing was becoming mainstream.

                                                                                      That was the when the plug was pulled. Pushing all of their customers who were curious about it's competitors directly into their arms. Since then they've been circling the drain.

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                                                                                        [–]Weewoofiatruck 7 points8 points  (3 children)

                                                                                        Boy am I glad they fired me 14 years ago.

                                                                                        But shout out to Ed, who worked there for roughly 25 years

                                                                                        [–]SeabeeSeth3945 7 points8 points  (0 children)

                                                                                        Thanks best buy for reimbursing my tuition so I could leave you✌🏻

                                                                                        [–]Zogster77 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                                                                                        Geek Squad Agent/Double Agent sleeper here. Laid off in 2013 when the new CEO came in and did budget cuts. Consistently a top 5 performer in the district. Cut because of my title. Nothing else taken into account. Offered my job back with a 5 dollar an hour pay cut but same responsibilities. Learned a lot about loyalty to a job then.

                                                                                        To be fair they did give very good severance and help with job finding but still.

                                                                                        [–]aaronbrethorst 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                                                                                        Shrug. I was cut from the pre-Best Buy Geek Squad in 2000 or 2001 because they decided they decided—out of the blue—to let all of their part time employees go. You owe a corporation just as much as it owes you: absolutely nothing.

                                                                                        I’ll dig up my badge for proof if anyone cares to see it.

                                                                                        [–]only_star_stuff 12 points13 points  (3 children)

                                                                                        BestBuy will announce record profits next quarter.

                                                                                        [–]unicron7 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                                                                                        Yup. After completely gutting their business internally until there is nothing left to keep the stocks afloat. Then sell the corpse that is left for next to nothing. It has happened all the time to giants over the years.

                                                                                        Infinite growth is not sustainable in any company and eventually leads to it eating itself in the end.

                                                                                        Our economy has always been a house of cards. Big reason why it collapses in cycles. They know it will happen but they don’t care. In the end the wealthy are bailed out. It’s the workers who are left out in the dust with their retirement gone and house foreclosed on.

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                                                                                          [–]BarnabusCollywog 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                                                                                          So glad I fucked my local Best Buy before they fucked me. I was the only repair agent at mine for like a good year and a half with a terrible GSM over me. She was fired. They went weeks without one, I was interviewed myself for the position with almost like no competition...and I ended up landing a software QA position in the middle of the process (and now in dev). Quit without even a day's notice which absolutely burned a bridge with them, but not even a year later most GSMs were laid off or forced to move elsewhere.

                                                                                          [–]Karpulltunnel 6 points7 points  (3 children)

                                                                                          what a werid use of the word "sleeper." they say they are using the word "sleeper" to mean being laid off, but it really means to be covert or concealed. It would make more sense if going sleeper means Geek Squad Agents are still doing their jobs but no longer using company branded vans and wearing company branded shirts.

                                                                                          [–]dijay0823 11 points12 points  (2 children)

                                                                                          The phrase sleeper agent is part of Geek Squad culture. Any time a geek squad agent leaves (on good terms) they become sleeper agent. The idea being once a geek squad agent always a geek squad agent. Your badge number remains unique so when you come back the same badge number is assigned to you.

                                                                                          Source: I left Geek Squad after 10+ years.

                                                                                          [–]xInfinity962 10 points11 points  (0 children)

                                                                                          It's borderline cult mentality and it's fucking dumb.

                                                                                          Source: Current Geek Squad Agent

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                                                                                            [–]Icehotel1 25 points26 points  (4 children)

                                                                                            Unions are our biggest asset

                                                                                            [–]cosmothekleekai 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            Now is a great time to skill up and find a position with better job security. Tech is good.

                                                                                            -previously employed at circuit city

                                                                                            [–]Chasterbeef 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            I got laid off from best buy.

                                                                                            8 years, just got rid of my position.

                                                                                            No offers to move me anywhere, had to reapply or quit. Shouldn't have done either, shouldn't have signed anything and taken unemployment

                                                                                            [–]AbraKaDangle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            Micro center gang

                                                                                            [–]timberwolf0122 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            “It sucks, I spent more than half my life with this company and sacrificed a lot of personal time and experiences just to be let go,”

                                                                                            Kids, companies don’t care if you missed seeing your children born or If you destroy your marriage working late etc. they have zero loyalty to you and you should have the same amount to them

                                                                                            [–]PreviousSuggestion36 4 points5 points  (1 child)

                                                                                            Best Buy used to be a great place to visit. Wander around looking at home theater stuff, browsing games or movies, checking out pc’s or gadgets.

                                                                                            Now, it’s a filthy disorganized mess. It’s all cell phones, boxed up tv’s, appliances, crappy smart home and laptops.

                                                                                            There may be a row of car audio or broken printers on display. Probably a few 1080p monitors too.

                                                                                            The impulse buys… gone. Movies? Gone. Game selection? Limited. Oddball gadgets or specialty home theater? Good luck. Car audio? Lol not here anymore.

                                                                                            Also, good luck finding help. The two employees are either smoking, fucking around or swamped covering the lone register.

                                                                                            It’s turned into a place I have little reason to visit. When I do stop in out of nostalgia, I am usually done in five minutes as there is nothing worth browsing anymore.

                                                                                            Hell even the rewards program is absolute crap now. Yet another reason I went there removed.

                                                                                            I watched this happen at Circuit city its final year. It’s sad to watch and unlike then, there is nothing sitting around as an alternative when they are gone.

                                                                                            Corporate did this to the stores. Take away a reason to go in for a peon product, and I wont grab something more expensive that I spot on the way out.

                                                                                            [–]CodeWizardCS 5 points6 points  (1 child)

                                                                                            Best Buy culture sucks. Everyone there acts like they are working in FANG but no one actually has the aptitude deserving of that attitude. A bunch of 20 year olds acting like they are changing the world by running a cash register. The way they treat their seasonal workers is atrocious, and the way they let people go makes it no surprise that this headline is in the news.

                                                                                            [–]malwareguy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            This isn't wrong, I work in the FAANG space, geek squad was glorified desktop support. I had two friends that worked at the geeksquad and their ego's were pretty insane, they acted like gods gift to tech. One begged me for an interview at my place because he was sure he'd be a "rockstar and hit staff level in no time!" but when we'd talk tech it was clear he wasn't remotely close to our standards for even a junior role.

                                                                                            [–]new_nimmerzz 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            “It sucks, I spent more than half my life with this company and sacrificed a lot of personal time and experiences just to be let go,” the laid-off worker said.”

                                                                                            Just another reminder that no matter how loyal you are you are just a number on a spreadsheet at the end of it all.

                                                                                            [–]BiggestPenisOnReddit 3 points4 points  (1 child)

                                                                                            Geek squad is fucking terrible and casually scams hella people. Fuck them and the shitty fucks who act like they know how to fix your devices, but then somehow can’t fix them and try to sell you the latest and greatest. Then those people bring their devices to others and find that “GS” has literally removed or broken key components and never knew how to fix the shit to begin with. Good riddance. Also, if you know how to actually fix devices and can clear their shelves of “projects” in a day they will not hire you. Once again good fucking riddance.

                                                                                            [–]gullydowny 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            Wait till AI automates the process of telling folks how to use email

                                                                                            [–]HikingBikingViking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            I never got closer to starting my own business as when I saw what best buy or Dell was charging for something like an OS reinstall. There's some ridiculous overhead in those shops. If you know how to do the work, undercut them by 10% and got enough work to stay busy you'd be doing fine.

                                                                                            [–]Hedhunta 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            Orange wedding pt 2. They did the same thing to covert agents.

                                                                                            [–]jadams2345 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            Businesses have no loyalty towards employees. Employees should have no loyalty towards their employers. It’s a business relationship. Anyone who imagines it to be more than that is a fool.

                                                                                            [–]wesre3_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            Every time I go into a best buy anymore I'm surprised they are still in business it feels just like a shell of it's former self.

                                                                                            [–]jawknee530i 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            Fifteen years ago I worked for geek squad. Drove the little beetle around and everything. They laid off like a third of the PC techs back then and I was offered a buyout. Took it and went back to school to finish my csci degree and work as a software engineer nowadays. Taking that buyout was the best decision ever.

                                                                                            [–]bigchicago04 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            What an idiotic name for a website. I thought it didn’t load right or something.

                                                                                            [–]GimmeNewAccount 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            Best Buy has been on a downward spiral for a while now. My local store just closed. The last time I was in, I was the only customer in there.

                                                                                            Electronics is a bit of a niche market that probably is mostly online now. Best Buy failed to reinvent themselves to stay relevant. The only reason I'd go to Best Buy is if I needed something right away or if I wanted to see something in person. But they even fail at that.

                                                                                            I went in to get a TV a year ago. Everything was out of stock and we would've had to order it to be delivered. Okay that's fine. Now let's try to order one. I tried to get the attention of what appears to be a manager so I can get some assistance. He waved me off and said everyone was busy. I walked right out of the store and ordered the same TV on Amazon.

                                                                                            [–]Appropriate-Coast794 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            I got rejected from there and now I have a better job…….they suck

                                                                                            [–]Rvplace 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                                                            You become more valuable with experience, use it!

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