Reply #6: UPDATE #2

[Pale Blue Dot]

UPDATE 2: We've gotten a lot more confirmation since this story was published. One leadership-level employee clarifies that few to no specific layoffs are necessarily happening, but to stay, you'll of course need to take a paycut:

"1) No employees are getting fired(to my knowledge), everyone is being retained.
2) Some employees are getting their pay cut to $12.00 (me), but Best Buy will be "bridging" the gap between your current pay and the drop for 9 months. So say you made $14 an hour, you will now get a check at the beginning of each month for $14 - $12, $2 * 38 hours a week * 4 weeks a month. Really not a bad deal, think of another company that has ever done this, giving you 9 months to get promoted or find a new job.
3) None of the changes go into effect until June.
4) The positions that are being cut are sales seniors (a sub-supervisor role), and they are merging some departments to have one supervisor control multiple areas. These changes will be announced later in April.
5) No changes to management have been announced yet.
6) Employees were also offered a severance package, not a very good one. 2 weeks of pay per year of employment with at least 6 months of COBRA."

http://i.gizmodo.com/5207693/huge-massive-best-buy-layoffs-coming-tomorrow-updated

#2 seems particularly bizarre to me. Can someone explain why they would do this?