Circuit City to Fire 3,400, Rehire Cheaper Workers

[loose passive]

[ QUOTE ]
Circuit City to Fire 3,400, Rehire Cheaper Workers

By Mark Clothier

March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Circuit City Stores Inc., the second-largest U.S. electronics retailer, will fire 3,400 sales people and replace them with employees willing to work for less.

The company, which reported its first loss in six quarters in December, is eliminating jobs that paid ``well above'' market rates. Those who were fired can apply for the lower-paying jobs, company spokesman Bill Cimino said today.

Circuit City, based in Richmond, Virginia, also hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. to study a sale of its 900 Canadian stores.

The moves will reduce 2008 expenses by $110 million and trim $140 million in annual spending in 2009. Sales may be volatile during the first half of this year as the new sales people transition in, the company said today in a statement.

``Firing 3,400 of arguably the most successful sales people in the company could prove terrible for morale,'' Colin McGranahan, an analyst with Sanford Bernstein & Co., wrote in a note today. ``The question remains as to whether Circuit City can rebuild in time for the all-important holiday season.''

[/ QUOTE ]

Would you go back and work for this company after they pulled this?

[Nick B.]

The walmart in my city just fired all their managers and rehired them at lower salaries.

[z28dreams]

Circuit city already did this once about 3-4 years ago.

Basically, when everyone was on commission, they laid off all of the people that were "costing" them the most.

Of course, these were the people that were also selling the most.

Sheer genius.

This time around though the higher salaries will mostly just be people who have been around the longest, not necessarily the best salesmen.

[Jerry D]

[ QUOTE ]
The walmart in my city just fired all their managers and rehired them at lower salaries.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is this a serious statement or a funny joke? I find this impossible to believe. I am sure walmartwatch or some other site would of reported this.

[qdmcg]

i like how all of these degenerate poker players are suddenly smart enough to outthink highly educated and well trained corporate Circuit City employees on what they are doing with their business

seriously u guys R SMART

[TheNoodleMan]

[ QUOTE ]
i like how all of these degenerate poker players are suddenly smart enough to outthink highly educated and well trained corporate Circuit City employees on what they are doing with their business

seriously u guys R SMART

[/ QUOTE ]
I like how you think that just because we play poker, we can't recognize an obviously poorly run business.

[jjp]

Consumer Electronics stores are dropping like flies.
Tweeter closing more stores. Compusa buys Good Guys, tries to make a go of it, closes stores. I work with CE stores and they are so inept. The regional chains are dying. The big chains like CC have to evolve or die. Big companies don't evolve quickly. CC needs to turn all its stores into "local" stores with good service to justify the higher prices than Walmart/Costco/BBY or become more like WMT/Costco/BBY and have dirt cheap labor and cheap prices. Looks like they are trying the second route. I don't know if they will be successful, I would bet against it.

[TheNoodleMan]

The Circuit City in my area went out of business around 2 years ago, roughly 6 months after Best Buy built a store across the street with a better selection and cheaper prices. I assume this is happening all over.

[guids]

Wow, a big company trying to make a profit, I cant believe it. I cant blame them, so I wouldnt be really bitter about going back.

[Mondogarage]

[ QUOTE ]
Wow, a big company trying to make a profit, I cant believe it. I cant blame them, so I wouldnt be really bitter about going back.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you really that stoopid, or do you like taking the same job over and over again for less money, while the cost of your life goes up?

This is an incredibly shortsighted move by Circuit City, who never truly recovered from the last time they did this. Maybe they needed to reduce costs after that big hit they took in a racial discrimination lawsuit a couple years back.

The best of the employees who were making more money, will continue to make more money by taking jobs *somewhere else*. If you're willing to go back to the same employer for less money than you made last week, it must be because you kinda suck at sales and aren't capable of actually finding a better job . And if that the salesperson roster Circuit City will be maintaining, they will perform even more poorly against the competition. Vicious cycle, ya know.