Circuit City -- I'm boycotting!!!

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Altho I used to work there (15 yrs) and loved it, it really hurt when they let appliances go ( no severance package) . Then they let all the commisioned people go ( my friends) Now they fired all of the rest of my friends who have worked there, some since day 1 .Why? Because they made too much money!! This is after they've given there all, one of my friends wife had a stroke and I don't know what he's going to do They did give them a severance package and told them after 10 weeks they could come back with a lesser wage Who in their right mind would come back? Customer service will be nil to none, I don't see anything good coming out of this. What happened to the day you could retire from one place.

I will watch my stock and see what happens. If it goes down I'm selling as I smell bankrupt. What do you think will happen with the stock? shaggy

[Marti Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Marti]

Circuit City cuts 3,400 staff

By Jonathan Birchall in New York

Updated: 12:10 a.m. CT March 29, 2007

Circuit City, the US consumer electronics retailer, said Wednesday it would cut about
8 per cent of its US store staff and replace them with cheaper hires, in a move that underlines the tensions facing US retailers as they struggle to keep down staffing costs.

The retailer said the majority of the 3,400 employees let go "were paid well
above the market-based salary range for their role" and would be replaced
by new workers "compensated at the current market range for the job".

Circuit City

[funtime2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close funtime2]

I saw something about this in our local paper on Friday.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

I've never bought anything at Circuit City and since there are no stores anywhere close by my usual routes, I doubt if I ever will. Letting employees go as a cost cutting measure sometimes results in the stock rising in price, so you might want to keep an eye on it and dump it when it looks like it has peaked. There's a lot of competition in electronics, so I tend to think most of the retailers there are questionable to invest in.

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

Wow! Just another way that the war on the middle class keeps going. We have CC in AZ, and I don't like them, don't usually think to go there, but now, for sure, I won't. What a horrible thing. And I bet the CEO will get a big fat bonus!

[mshatty Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close mshatty]

Shaggy,

I saw the announcement in the newspaper and thought it seemed cold and harsh. I am sorry that your friends have been caught up in this and wish them the best.

I would hope that the reason that Circuit City did this was because it is in bad financial trouble because of the severe negative public reaction that this course of action is going to generate. If it's not in that kind of financial trouble, shame on them.

[IreneLF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close IreneLF]

The retailer said the majority of the 3,400 employees let go "were paid well
above the market-based salary range for their role" and would be replaced
by new workers "compensated at the current market range for the job".


Unless they are in real financial in trouble, this is disgusting.

Of course they make more if they have been there for years and years.

This is akin to firing teachers who have worked for 20+ years and gone up in salary, to replace them with new hires becasue you can get two for the price of the old one.
YIKES!

Sorry that this affected your friends Shaggy.

[littlestar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close littlestar]

That seems like discrimination to me. I read an article about it in our local paper. I will not buy anything at Circuit City now. That is so low.

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

How disgusting. It seems that the middle agers are always caught in the middle. Too young for retirement, to old because of longivity on the job to be kept. It is discrimination in a sense and someone should make a class action against CC.

Allowing them to reapply after 10 weeks at a lower salary is a slap in the face.

[grest Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close grest]

I thought, and still think, that it's an asset to a company to have loyal employees, paying them accordingly...what this company is doing is poor business practice, and just the wrong way to treat faithful employees..
connie

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

The one they had in Cape Girardeau, MO closed a couple of years ago, right after Best Buy came to town.

[I-DE-HO Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close I-DE-HO]

That seems like discrimination to me. I read an article about it in our local paper. I will not buy anything at Circuit City now. That is so low.

It's not discrimination unless they 'carve out' a certain group to fire, like women only, or those of color, or those over 40, etc, etc. Broad, sweeping, layoffs happen everyday. It's legal. Most of those employees, if they are good salespeople, will land new jobs soon.

[Ryne08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ryne08]

The fat salaries from upper mgt needs to be cut for doing nothing and that the little guys working their butts off.

I will join the boycott.

[Keitht Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Keitht]

Given the date I hope this is an April Fool joke, but fear that it isn't. To sack the entire workforce only to offer re-employment at a lower wage absolutely stinks.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

While I'm not a big union fan, this is part of the reason why unions exist. To protect the worker from unfare labor practices.

The days of the "company man" are long gone. The company has quit looking out for it's workers many years ago. As a result, most workers have quit looking out for the company as well.

A similar problem has existed in nursing for many years with hospitals finding ways to get rid of more experienced help in favor of hiring new graduate nurses at a much lower starting wage. That philospphy has come back to haunt the hospitals and everyone that's sick in the form of an acute nursing shortage. Still, many hospitals keep trying this form of expense control/cost reduction and the problem just keeps getting worse.

When my current bill with Circuit City is paid off, I'll cancel my account and stop shopping with them. I fear that while Circuit City is now out in the open about this others have been doing this for some time quitely so I may only be trading the devil I know for the devil I don't know.