A week after Polygon published an extensive report on GameStop‘s internal troubles, the publication’s sources have said that the retailer has laid off at least 10 district managers in order to cut costs. District managers are part of GameStop’s middle management. Their job is to oversee multiple stores in different regions, with store managers reporting directly to them.
According to reports, GameStop’s workforce is already stretched due to ongoing layoffs and this move has further stretched the remaining middle managers. Sources said that district managers who were overseeing up to 12 stores are now overseeing more than 20 in geographically dispersed locations.
Those who have been laid off were long-time employees, and the cost-cutting exercise is expected to result in further layoffs.
“Things have changed drastically,” an assistant manager recently told Polygon. “Our district manager is pushing tech trades, like iPhones and tablets, as well as [preorder] reservations. No one cares about the games, or the customers, anymore. It’s obnoxious.”
Other store managers said that they want to be helpful to customers but unrealistic targets handed down to them by the top management alongside pressure from district managers hold them back.
“There’s a level of distrust between the DL [district leader] and the stores,” said an employee. “Our DL reviews the transaction records every week and will write down the exact number of transactions when we didn’t offer the full trade pitch, and will then take disciplinary actions for each of those employees.”
GameStop has yet to respond to this report.
[Source: Polygon]
