Circuit City will fire 3,400 sales people and replace them with employees willing to work for less

[dajoki]

Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aw.zhHEzMpZU&refer=home

Circuit City to Fire 3,400, Rehire Cheaper Workers (Update3)

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.

<<snip>>

``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.''

<<snip>>

The sales people being fired weren't given an option of taking a pay cut, spokesman Cimino said. He declined to give the pay rate for fired workers or the expected wages for new hires.

<<snip>>

Circuit City pays about $10 to $11 an hour, on average, Weinhart estimated. Entry level pay probably is close to $8 for inexperienced workers, he said.

[SteppingRazor]

1. The joys of a union-less work force n/t

[dajoki]

6. When Hershey...

moved most of their jobs from PA to Mexico the union agreed to it. Unions aren't what they used to be.

[Bill McBlueState]

12. Which unions?

All of them, or just the one representing Hershey employees?

[dajoki]

25. The one representing Hershey employees n/t

[earth mom]

27. Unions are being busted-that's what's happening. Unions are NOT the bad guys.

The bad guys are corporations & the government-they want Unions gone. Can't have the peons-aka the workers-cutting into the profits because the stockholders wouldn't like that, no, not at all. :grr:

[dajoki]

61. I agree...

I personally lost a great job to Raygun's union busting tactics back in the '80s.

[earth mom]

28. self delete

[ComerPerro]

8. honestly, the only thing that a union would have done is negotiate a pay cut to keep the jobs

which would probably have been cut to the level that CC will be offering anyway.

[Rosemary2205]

22. Union busting for the last 27 years brought us to this point.

it's no secret Reagan, Bush1 and Bush2 were/are enemies of American workers. The surprise is that Clinton's record on strengthening unions is terrible. NAFTA was especially harmful, not to mention some of the corporate tax laws he didn't fight that made exporting and degrading the quality of jobs even easier.

[ComerPerro]

23. problem is, there's not much a union can do in this case

[Rosemary2205]

35. Correct, not anymore -- after 27 years there's not much they can do.

The federal government has worked very hard to strip unions of any power. At this point there's nothing any union can do for anyone in the US.


Mission accomplished...........

[Yavin4]

67. Sure Glad Some of You Weren't Around In the 20's and 30's

When we had sweat shops and dangerous working conditions. Some of you would have just shrugged and said, "there's nothing that you can do".

[Virginia Dare]

100. In the 20's and 30's, we didn't have a global economy...

American companies didn't just up and leave for foreign countries at the drop of a hat. Back then, they needed the American workers as much as the workers needed them. That's no longer true.

[Rosemary2205]

138. The sweat shops have now been outsourced

and from what I can see Americans really don't care that their T-shirts are made with "slave" labor just so long as it's in another country half way round the globe.

I actively promote unions in the US - with my own time and talents. But America is no longer union friendly now that jobs are small business and mostly desk jobs. We no longer have our family, friends and neighbors DYING at work and I believe Americans will let life here get pretty unbearable for the majority before then put their foot down with the ultra rich again.

[ComerPerro]

79. even forty years ago unions couldn't force a company to keep people's jobs

usually, the whole prospect of "fire everyone and hire new people for cheaper" is the extreme end that the company brings to the table. Can't get any more extreme than that, really. And the union negotiates it down, usually a pay decrease, but keeping the jobs. Or they can threaten to strike. The power of organized labor is that all the workers can quit at any time, thus hurting the company.

But if a company is willing to just fire everyone anyway, there's little room for negotiating and a strike would be ineffective.

[malaise]

82. Bingo

I stopped shopping there ages ago.

[Warpy]

Corporate managers use tables

that give the break even point between retaining a loyal and competent long term employee and training a new hire.

It is in effect in all industries and has been so for some time.

Funny, Home Depot was doing that, firing all the old ex construction guys and replacing them with bored twentysomethings who didn't know their thumbs from their bums.

The old guys are back.

Circuit City's customer care is being sacrificed for a few dollars. Why would anyone want to shop there?

Those MBAs are about to learn the hard lesson Home Depot did.

[TornadoTN]

7. Well put and very true - the dumbing down of corporations

Home Depot fired the "old hand" and brought in inexpierenced people to fill those spots. When that didn't work, they hired all sorts of contractors - reputable or not - and ended up losing a big chunk due to sub-par work or outraegous pricing that the contractors billed Home Depot. Like you said, for the most part these people were rehired.

I occassionaly shop in my local Circuit City because I know some of the people that work there. One woman, a single mother of two young girls, just got her notice this week that they were cutting her job. Instead of cutting the wasteful spending and assinine policies that cost the company loads of money, they cut people who have stuck with them through thick and thin. I won't be shopping there now and will do my best to tell others to do the same.

(Also, not all MBA's are bad - I hold one and I would like to think I would have better sense to make a boneheaded move like this.)

*Edited for typos*

[jmowreader]

33. You're thinking two different batches of contractors

Home Depot used to be the number-one employer of partially-disabled contractors in America. A guy who couldn't haul 90-pound bundles of shingles up a ladder all day long anymore could still calculate roofing requirements, give advice or teach classes, so we would hire those people. It was a win for everyone: the old roofer could still take home a respectable paycheck, the customer could be sure he had the right materials, and we made more money because people would shop us instead of The Enemy.

Then our corporate board made the worst mistake any corporate board has ever made in the history of corporate boards, and hired Bob Fucking Nardelli, late of General Electric, to replace Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus. Bob got rid of all the expensive employees. Bob decided the way we'd make oodles of long green is to hire really cheap employees and give them "product knowledge" training.

The Product Knowledge class on concrete is half an hour long and contains two pieces of information that are questionable (one has to do with Type N and Type S mortar, the other has to do with masonry cement) and one that's completely wrong (a volume calculation), but this is supposed to compensate for getting rid of the guy over there who poured concrete every day for 20 years.

There is good news on the horizon: the upcoming Skilled Trades Program is going to start hiring contractors again.

The other contractors were our installers and we finally figured out a way to weed out the deadwood: we now charge an application fee for contractors to get into the program, and we require a physical office with a fax machine and twice as much General Liability insurance as the state you're in requires. Half Ass Construction, LLC, won't meet the requirements.

[Gormy Cuss]

88. If HD brings back people who know the trades, I'll shop there again.

The first HD in my area had the experienced floor people and it was a good store. When I moved to CA the transition had happened and the store were just plain awful. I gave up when I realized that the average floor employee knew very little about the products, including where to find them in the store. Most of the floor staff were skill-free and often didn't know where to find a part until the customer said whether it was for plumbing or the pool, etc. Then the registers, always backed up, always holding up customers for the SKU on a fifty cent item, were what finally sent me fleeing the store.

HD bought a good regional chain in my area two years ago, Yardbirds. At Yardbirds every employee on the floor knew the store layout, the ones who worked in specific areas knew the products, and even the cashiers had a good sense of the product lines. HD wanted to replace one Yardbirds store with an EXPO type and the well heeled locals raised Cain. It will re-open as a general hardware store. I would imagine that under Nardelli that wouldn't have happened.

[jmowreader]

128. It's not just frustrating to the customer...

Nardelli's insistence on hiring, when possible, the cheapest, most unskilled labor imaginable is frustrating to those of us who know this stuff.

[Horse with no Name]

Our hospital did that recently

First did a voluntary reduction of force.
Then a mandatory 25% workforce cut.
Now...they are offering sign-on bonuses for Graduate Nurses.

[TommyO]

90. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy I worked with last week

when I bought my new TV is gone - I've seen him at one of my local CC's before and he actually knew what he was talking about (I generally do plenty of pre-purchase research and know more than most of the sales staff).

Now that Circuit City has pulled this, they can count me out as a return customer.

[bunkerbuster1]

2. Added to the list of "places I will never shop"

Everyone proud to be an American yet?

[femrap]

59. Same here....I am basically on a

Consumer Strike. I buy only the basic necessities at stores that don't treat their employees like crap.

Did you see what the CEO made???? It's immoral.

[Digit]

120. After that, I am crossing CC off my list, too.

Getting rid of people so they can hire people to work for less.
Hrumpf!

[aquart]

3. Will the CEO also work for less?

[Roland99]

5. Are you mad? How else to afford his mansion and yacht for restoring the company's profits?

http://www.jamesmcmurtry.com/we_cant_make_it_herelyrics.htm

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

[AllegroRondo]

18. He'll get a bonus for saving the company money

sad but true

[Beaverhausen]

20. Exactly what I was thinking. What was his salary last year?

I'm sure he could do without one of his "millions" and all those people could keep their jobs.

edit- found it in the article:

"Circuit City Chief Executive Officer Philip Schoonover was paid $8.52 million in fiscal 2006, including a $975,000 salary. Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson received $3.85 million, including a $1.17 million salary."

[Telly Savalas]

121. So this dumbfuck is getting paid more than twice the CEO of a company

that actually reported a profit in its last quarter. The Board of Directors should fire him.

[aquart]

123. They should fire themselves for letting it happen.

So, how long before Circuit City goes the way of Crazy Eddie?

[dajoki]

136. LOL!!

[in_cog_ni_to]

4. Crap. No more shopping Circuit City.com. I cannot believe they are admitting this is what they're

doing! Corporations SUCK. That's all there is to it. No more CC for me.:grr:

[fidgeting wildly]

52. We've sunk so low that they don't have to hide it anymore.

They put on a tragic affect, act sad about "losing" their best, brightest, and most loyal employees, and then carry on with their bad selves. They know that most Americans won't stand up for their fellow citizens and boycott these bastards.

[kysrsoze]

89. I always hated buying things at Best Buy, but now I'll shop there instead of C.C. Also Costco

Screw CC. They'll be out of business soon enough.

[Marrah_G]

9. I see a revitalization of unions in the future

As this crap hits more and more people they will organize and revolt. Often it takes personal experience to move someone to action.

[LisaM]

10. Luckily I don't shop there

When I had to buy a TV recently, I went to a local store. They treated me so well that when I upgrade my TV in a few years, I will be going back there. This is in huge contrast to the (only) time I went to Best Buy and not only would no one help me - they didn't even offer to help me carry the CD player I bought to my car. Oh, and I hate the CD player. No big box stores for me.

[Little Wing]

11. The simple truth is that you might as well just invest in UPS

Online sales is going to destroy electronics big-box stores like BestBuy and CircuitCity and Tweeter.

[hunter]

13. So what will they have now that Wal-Mart doesn't?

Higher prices?

[lpbk2713]

14. I never liked that place anyway

.... so I won't miss anything by not going there any more.

[Selatius]

15. Here's another fucking idea.

How about we save costs by firing the people at the top instead of the people at the bottom? How much does a CEO make anyway?

[dajoki]

122. Here...

Chief Executive Officer Philip Schoonover was paid $8.52 million in fiscal 2006

[Dora]

16. Circuit City has always sucked.

I once tried to buy a car stereo there. I was told that installation into my vehicle required rewiring and would cost another $150.

I went to another store, and I was told that the model I was looking at wouldn't fit into my car, and required additional labor to make it work. I was then directed to other models that could be easily installed without additional expense.

Circuit City Sucks.

[RC Quake]

39. I've had the same experiences with them.

Plus, I had the added bonus for working for their corporate offices for 6 months. Let me tell you from inside knowledge...they suck!

I haven't entered their establishment for over 10 years and never will again. This news doesn't surprise me. It's status quo for them.

[Gruenemann]

69. I stopped shopping there years ago

The service was crappy and they were always out of what I wanted. I imagine it'll be even worse now.

[deadmessengers]

17. Guess I won't be shopping there anymore.

Oh, wait - I didn't anyway. :) Circuit City is laughably bad. It's so much easier and cheaper to shop online.

[lpbk2713]

19. Look at this ----->

Their PAC fund donations were 88% Red in '04.

Link: http://pacstudy.leadershipinstitute.org/detailPAC.cfm?ID=C00296632



I hope their Red asses go to bankrupcy court ASAP.

[dajoki]

137. Eye opening n/t

[Beaverhausen]

21. Circuit City Chief Executive Officer Philip Schoonover was paid $8.52 million in fiscal 2006

from the article.

So, the company has a loss and he still gets that much money?

[berni_mccoy]

108. Cut his salary in half and that saves an avg $1250 for each of those 3400.

[skypilot]

24. This seems to be happening everywhere.

Not only is it driving down wages but it also turns jobs into what Naomi Klein calls "McJobs". They did this when I worked at Borders bookstore. The thing is that I saw what I did there as a real job--even though it paid shit. There was a ton of work involved and it actually required some thought to do it right. It wasn't brain surgery but it wasn't something to be devalued and fobbed off on cheaper, part-time workers either. More and more jobs seem to not be considered "real" jobs and thus corporations get away with paying people less money to do them.

[madrchsod]

26. my son worked at cc when he went to college

the place sucked..but he could buy stuff at half price and did make 10-12 an hour. cc will be bankrupt in a couple of years

[Bluedogvoter]

29. I don't blame them.

If they are losing money they have to make cuts. It would be irresponsible to continue on losing money.

[lpbk2713]

34. They could cut the fat from the top. Not the bottom.

:hi:

[Bluedogvoter]

36. I agree.

They should do both.

If they have been forced to shut down stores as claimed in the article, they need to do what they can to stay competitive.

[RC Quake]

Yes, that's absolutely correct.

When I worked there in one of the corporate divisional offices, each of us were forced to go away on a mission for 10 days. These missions were to exotic areas all over the world. The destination had to be remote...no telephones, tv's or outside world contact. We were expected to be alone with our thoughts for 10 days in order to compose a mission statement for ourselves that would ultimately benefit the corporation.

Talk about a waste of money!

I can't even begin to tell you how many boondoggles I witnessed in my short 6-month stay. :eyes:

[Bluedogvoter]

56. Whoa, that is odd.

I'd have gone to Alaska.

[dajoki]

140. Welcome to DU Bluedogvoter...

and that IS weird:hi:

[PreacherCasey]

38. Yes, corporate profits are much more important than the lives of workers.

Give these fired people some credit cards. They'll be alright. Or maybe they should go back to school for 4 years (taking out huge loans to pay for it of course) while working a shit job on the side for food money. Their kids can fend for themselves.

[Bluedogvoter]

41. Remaining profitable is more important. Yes.

Would you rather them lose profits and shut down costing 46k people their jobs or would you rather they eliminate jobs that they were paying well above industry standard?

The answer is obvious which is the right choice. They also gave these workers severance.

[Elwood P Dowd]

46. $10.00 an hour IS NOT above industry standards.

Unless you're using Wal Mart as the industry standard.

[Nickster]

48. You know darn well they are. n/t

[Elwood P Dowd]

54. I made more than $10.00 an hour selling electronics in the 1980s.

Today, it's all about making millions for the CEO and the major stock holders. In the long run, CC will regret doing this. They will end up with a bunch low-wage workers who simply don't give a shit. Buying from CC will be no different than buying a Big Mac. "Give me one Pioneer plasma TV, one order of HDMI cables, and a Sony DVD changer. Next, can I take your order please."

[Bluedogvoter]

57. I agree with that.

They will get lesser quality workers.

[femrap]

64. Back in late '70's and early '80's, appliance

salesMEN (no women allowed) at Sears made $70,000 to $80,000 a year (combo of base salary + commission). They were putting kids through college and the spouses didn't have to work. This was a GOOD upper middle class job.

Today, the job is 100% commission and the sales floor is flooded with workers who are forced into 'dog eat dog' competition with their co-workers. If you work 40 to 50 hours per week (on a hard concrete floor with NO SITTING ALLOWED), you will be lucky to make $40,000 per year....LUCKY.

I f*cking hate what corporations have done to my country.

Oh, and management loves to see the sales force fighting amongst itself....too busy to realize that the bossman is the enemy.

[Nickster]

80. Well another thing is that they are saying "to hell" with the customers.

Why shouldn't I be able to go to one of these electronics stores and get an at least somewhat informed opinion of electronics? CC and stores like these are now forcing me to work for them. I have to take the time and effort to do the research to find out everything I need to know before I get there or else I'll be shoved through the door with something that doesn't meet my needs.

With other companies I have to deal with, I'm forced to wait on hold for 30 minutes on average OR I can go to their website or someone elses website to find the answers to my questions. I can't tell you how many online communities I had to go to for my answers for specific products. I'm working for these companies whether I like it or not.

[Firespirit]

85. This is a growing problem in tech

As a degreed computer scientist/software engineer, I have often been on the phone with technical support for my laptop or my ISP and I'll find that I know more about the situation than they do.

Don't have any ignorant salesmen stories to tell, but try this one on for size:

I was having difficulty with my ISP-provided e-mail account. I have personal e-mail accounts at my domains, but I'm paying for Internet access that includes an e-mail account, so I want it to work. The connection itself is working and the mailserver is unreachable.

Well, I call technical support, MUST run through the usual BS diagnostics that they're apparently required to put every customer through. Nothing significant turns up. At this point the support guy learns that my laptop, which is an older machine, is running Windows 2000. He informs me that "this is likely the problem" and that I ought to upgrade.

I ping the mailserver. It's allegedly up, but the response time is extremely slow. I tell them about this. The tech support doesn't know what "ping" is. As the customer, I have to explain its purpose and function.

None of this is good for my confidence, but I press on. I pull up my port mapping program and scan the mailserver's open ports. The port scanner turns up that... a virus is running on the mail server. I tell them this, and whoo boy -- I'm all but accused of hacking the server. The conversation ends at this point, and I send off an e-mail from one of my domain accounts directly to the company president (this is a semi-local ISP) explaining what is going on and how I know it. Finally I get a response.

I wonder if they would have ever figured out that they had a VIRUS and apparently a major security hole (to allow it into their system).

[Nickster]

106. Ahhh yes, like the time they told me my blackberry was too old, purchased 11 months ago

and that because it was so old, I couldn't use the daylight savings time patch and would need to buy a new blackberry.

[Bluedogvoter]

55. Where did you get the 10 dollar figure?

What I read is they didn't release how much they were paid.

[SoCalDem]

98. $10 an hour... now where have we heard that before?

A single mom with one child can live easily on $10 an hour

[Elwood P Dowd]

103. No problem as long as she doesn't eat.

Or maybe eats a couple of crackers each day.

:sarcasm:

[donheld]

126. And God forbid, God Forbid she gets sick!

[Nickster]

47. Who exactly decides what the "industry" standard is anyways? Do you really think they were paying

these sales people 50k a year or something? My guess is they wanted to pay 8 bucks an hour, so they decided to cut people and pay 8 bucks an hour. That industry standard garbage is just a smoke screen to cover up what they wanted to do. One thing I don't understand is why is everyone so against people being paid "above the industry standard" these days? Don't people who make a good wage buy lots of stuff and keep this economy afloat? Don't people who make 8 bucks an hour just worry about feeding themselves and putting gas in their car?

[Firespirit]

50. False dichotomy

These were not the only choices that they were faced with.

I took business classes. I almost had enough for a minor in business. They are TAUGHT that it is more important for the company's "image" for the top management and CEO to continue to do well, even if it comes at the expense of the workforce. One class actually taught, "if your company is in trouble, cut your workforce and give yourself as big of a bonus as you can -- when managers have to make sacrifices, it looks bad."

[PreacherCasey]

53. Mmm Hmm... cutting these peoples jobs is the only way to remain profitable.

Well above industry standard, huh? That sounds nice. It says in the article that they make $10-$11 an hour. I bet their benefits are great too. Try raising a family on that.

I don't want to argue with you. It seems we have a fundamentally different world view.

[Bluedogvoter]

62. I'm not arguing, sorry if you consider it to be so.

I'm not sure what they were being paid.

The article stated an analyst estimated they paid 10-11 on average for a job that requires no education other than a high school diploma, even that estimated salary is good. The article also stated these were employees that made above average.

This is irrelevant though.

Are you as outraged at CC's competitors that already pay the lower wages?

[Firespirit]

66. The "average" isn't the issue here

If the average wage for this type of job was $3/hour, and all else was equal in the world (except no minimum wage law), I guess it'd be a "high salary" for such people to be paid $5/hour!

The issue here is what people can live on. $10/hour is barely a living wage for ONE person in some cities. I know. I've lived it -- with a four-year college degree in engineering, you might like to know. You don't even know what the educational level of these employees was.

And if the other companies pay lower wages (where's the source on that?), that doesn't excuse it. It just makes this move by Circuit City that much worse, because CC eliminated the option of having a (slightly) better salary than its competitors.

[PreacherCasey]

71. Of course I am. That is the point. "Profits over People" does not work with me.

[Bluedogvoter]

114. Its not like they are doing it when things are good.

Should they continue on the current course and go out of business in 5 years costing 46k people their jobs or should they cut some loose in the short term and try and get back on track?

If it was good times when their sales and stocks were going up I could understand your concern, but when stocks have been falling as well as sales, you have to make some adjustments or risk costing even more people their jobs. If you can't see that then we do indeed have different world views.

[PreacherCasey]

119. Don't look at this situation in a vacuum.

See the pattern here?

First:
In 2003, Circuit City switched employees from commission- based pay to hourly pay, matching an earlier move by Best Buy . That switch had a ``dramatically negative impact on sales,'' McGranahan said today.

Then:
Circuit City, along with Best Buy , was forced to slash TV prices during the 2006 holiday season after Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Home Depot Inc. and CostCo Wholesale Corp. began selling flat panels for less."

In response:
Circuit City Stores Inc., the second-largest U.S. electronics retailer after Best Buy Co. , fired 3,400 of its highest-paid hourly workers and will hire replacements willing to work for less.

What is the logical next step? Who benefits? How do Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and CostCo treat their employees? What happens to the citizens of our country as other corporations follow suit?

[TommyO]

92. Costco wages are well above industry standards for retail

and they manage to remain profitable.

[Morereason]

118. You just can't run a business on only an 8% growth in profits anymore. Right

That was their figure last year.

[raccoon]

130. They could fire some at the top and hire replacements from India. nt

[Nickster]

43. Right. So what happens when they don't have any more employees to cut and they are

still losing money? Cutting the workforce is a knee jerk reaction to get a quick payoff in profitability, but it only masks the coming crisis. When you have no new ideas and no experienced staff with loyalty to the company, you have no where else to turn to squeeze profits from, then the whole ship is sunk. That is assuming of course that any CEO really gives a damn about having a successful company or just lining their own nest while they have a chance.

[Bluedogvoter]

45. That doesn't describe the situation at all.

[Nickster]

49. Yes actually it does. It has become standard practice for business today to pare down

their workforce so they can claim a bump in their profitability and they can claim efficiency gains. But what happens when you can't cut any more staff and you don't have any new ideas to revitalize your company? Those profit bumps and effeciency gains go away.

[femrap]

60. I don't believe they were losing $.....

just not growing fast enough. When are these CEOs going to wake up and see the writing on the wall? CONSUMERS ARE TAPPED OUT. You'll be lucky to avoid bankruptcy.

And that the CEO didn't take a pay cut before axing the little people is a sure way to get to bankruptcy....

[newportdadde]

133. As the poster above state - "CONSUMERS ARE TAPPED OUT"

30 years ago, wages started their decline and we moved to the now very prevalent 2 wage earner home, there were always some but now its the 'norm'. Next comes the stage we are in now, wages down or stagnate, food/healthcare/energy/housing way up. This is attempted to be offset by TPTB by providing the American consumer cheap interest and easy credit to keep them spending... which is ironic because cheap interest and easy credit is helping causing the inflation of housing.

Anyways the American consumer uses home equity, CCs etc to borrow against and maintain lifestyle. Now that well is going dry, they are as borrowed out as they can get.

I'm probably not the only white collar worker who has to listen to management bitch about how sales are poor and costs are too high. Well guess what! When you get rid of good paying jobs *gasp* nobody can buy your stuff!

[femrap]

141. It's pretty amazing how stupid managers can be...

or maybe not?

[TommyO]

91. They've shown a profit in the past two years

Apparently not enough for Wall Street analysts apparently.

[dajoki]

99. They didn't lose money, their sales were 2% less than expected...

Chief Executive Officer Philip Schoonover was paid $8.52 million in fiscal 2006, including a salary of $975,000. Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson received $3.85 million, including a $1.17 million salary.

Circuit City is trying to save money after reporting its first loss in six quarters in December. Its stock, which rose 1.9 percent today, has fallen 21 percent over the past 12 months as profit from selling flat-panel televisions plummeted.

Circuit City, along with Best Buy, was forced to slash TV prices during the 2006 holiday season after Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Home Depot Inc. and CostCo Wholesale Corp. began selling flat panels for less.

Sales last fiscal year grew 8 percent, lagging behind an earlier forecast of as much as 10 percent, Circuit City said today. Sales in stores open at least a year, a key measure of a retailer's health, rose 6 percent last year, less than an earlier outlook of as much as 8 percent. The company will report full fiscal 2007 results on April 4.

[proud2BlibKansan]

102. Well did they consider cutting back on corporate bonuses?

[Deja Q]

110. Uh, we are told executives make the biggest/responsible decisions, hence their pay.

Why are they getting rid of their best workers (who are usually around the longest AND get a lot of pay)? That's only going to HURT THEM even more.

No, the executive(s) make(s) the decisions. Therefore they should be first to take the hit.

That's how it used to be.

Mind you, Teddy Roosevelt (a Republican) and his Republican viewpoints wouldn't be tolerated today by many Republicans in office. A shame.

[Bonhomme Richard]

30. Ten dollars and hour. How could they afford to pay so much?

No wonder they can't make an unconscionable profit.

[TexasLawyer]

31. my most recent trip to Circuit City was my LAST

My brother-in-law wanted a CC or BestBuy gift certificate for Christmas. I went to CC because there was one close to my house-- a glitzy and newly-opened one to boot.

They had ONE cashier on the floor at 3:00 pm the Saturday before Christmas.

I had to wait in line for well OVER 30 minutes to buy my little gift certificate, and at a time when I was very busy and had a lot of errands to run. There weren't huge numbers of people in front of me-- it was just that each transaction was taking a L O N G time. The fellow in front of me was buying a little DVD player and the cashier spent a significant amount of time trying to sell him an extended warranty on the product. Aggravating! I actually sat down on the floor it was taking so long.

After I spent 15 or 20 minutes in line, another cashier appeared from the nether regions of the store, but this guy just left it to pure proximity to his cash register as to who would be served. Naturally the people very far back in my line, who had not waited NEARLY as long as I had, got served first.

I complained to the manager after I had made my purchase, but he was extremely unapologetic. He actually just shrugged. Talk to the hand!

I learned my lesson about Circuit City. I've bought LOTS of electronics since then, but it has NOT been from Circuit City. I don't think their new changes are going to do anything positive for their business.

[PreacherCasey]

32. I'm shocked I tell ya. Shocked. n/t

[mzmolly]

37. If we make laws governing the amount CEO's can make, based upon their lowest paid employee

that might be a solution?

[Elwood P Dowd]

42. The average CEO use to make 40 times the pay of the average worker.

Today, the average CEO makes 500 times the pay of the average worker.

[mzmolly]

77. That's incredible.

:( I remember working for a major US Bank about a decade ago. The "workers" in our department got a $10 annual bonus to spend at Rainbow Foods, the CEO got 5 million plus. Further, the $10 bonus was something our bosses did out of the kindness of their hearts, there was no "bonus" allotted to us worker bees.

[Bluedogvoter]

44. Probably not, remember stock options?

Hell even bonuses. Thats how they get around that.

[PreacherCasey]

72. That's also how they get around paying their taxes.

God Damn this pisses me off! :argh:

[mzmolly]

76. We'd have to consider them "pay."

Welcome.

[gravity]

40. Terrible idea

If you are going to cut the wages of the best employees, you better give them commission to the employees so they are motivated to make sales.

I think this is going to backfire on circuit city in the end.

[sandnsea]

51. Isn't this a "managed" Depression??

1/3 of jobs paying under $11.00 hr, more added every day.

Sounds like a Depression to me.

:shrug:

[raccoon]

131. Give the lady a cigar! You got it. nt

[gollygee]

58. I don't even know how to respond to that

it's just awful. There is no such thing as job security in this country anymore.

[Lerkfish]

63. I USED to shop there because they had better customer service than BBUY. never again.

I will also cancel my credit card with them

[guitar man]

65. Well, that makes me a former customer

of Circuit City now. I just sent them this email.

________________________________________________________________________

I have been a loyal customer of Circuit City for years, but I will never spend another dime with your company. I have spent thousands of dollars with CC over the years.

I am writing in regard to the news article today referencing the firing of 3400 employes to re-hire at lower wages. Sorry, but I can not support this type of greed. There has been enough of this kind of crap in this country lately, and enough is enough.

I see that CC saw fit to pay CEO Philip Schoonover $8.52 million , but I don't see where he is slated to be let go for poor performance in the stock market. Maybe he could re-apply for HIS job for less compensation.

So, you had one bad quarter out of the last six and you're going to push all these people overboard for cheaper labor? What's going to happen next good quarter, wages restored to previous levels? Pardon me if I don't hold my breath for that, the excess cash is going straight into Schoonover's pocket and the other 3 or 4 MBA's at the top.

Well, it won't be any of my cash going there, I'll be shopping at Best Buy or Ultimate Electronics.

Sincerely,

LM

Tulsa, OK

[lpbk2713]

81. Excellent message.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:


I might just do the same. Rotten bastards.


Me ----> <---- C/C

[guitar man]

93. please do

The more people speak out, the better. Maybe, just maybe, if enough people actually abandon shopping there, they'll get bitten in the ass by the "free market" they worship.

But, I'm afraid we're too apathetic as a nation these days to do anything but mindlessly consume without thinking about the consequences. :(

[TexasLawyer]

86. GOOD one!

[Bluedogvoter]

117. I've worked at both the CC and Ultimate in Tulsa.

I can tell you CC treats its employees much better. CC was actually a great place to work, thats more or less the reason I'm defending them in this thread.

[guitar man]

124. well

the jobs won't be worth a shit after CC finished pulling this stunt. And I don't shop at Ultimate either, I was just using that to jerk their chain. ;)

[Bluedogvoter]

125. Yeah, I figured as much.

Those people at Ultimate are in their own little world. The place was just odd.

Either way, neither them or CC seem to be competing well in the local market against big blue BB.

[pcboss49]

68. probably replaced with Wal-Mart greeters......

[JHB]

70. More F***ing MBA-itis

These guys just love to "run the numbers" and pretend it's all scientific, like astronomers calculating orbits, but they don't know what to do with things that aren't easily quantifiable, so they just ignore them, and then blame someone else when that omission comes back to bite the company in the ass.

There's words for when engineers make calculations that way: "shoddy", "incompetent", "negligent", etc. These guys just get golden parachutes.

[leftofthedial]

73. fucking capitalist scum

[Marie26]

74. So stop shopping at Best Buy, then.

Circuit City used to have career salespeople that they paid on commission, but got undersold by Best Buy w/their minimum wage employees. If people are really, truly upset about this, they shouldn't shop at stores that don't treat employees well.

[Nickster]

83. OR the government should stop making it so easy to cut the heart out of America.

If I didn't shop at companies that treated their employees well, well I'd not have many places left to shop.

[Marie26]

87. We're all responsible

In little ways and big ways. People complain about bad labor practices, but they'll ultimately buy at the cheapest place. Walmart makes billions, as do other corporations that treat their employees like dirt. Because, ultimately, consumers are pretty selfish & will buy the cheapest product regardless of other ethical considerations. So we are ultimately encouraging these kinds of practices - we may cheer a company that pays a fair wage, but if they hike prices to do so, we won't support it. Corporations are doing this kind of stuff to cut costs & increase sales to consumers. That's the nature of capitalism.

I agree that it's ultimately the government's job to restrict capitalism's worst abuses through laws & regulations. If corporations could employee kids or end safety measures, they would; it's only government that prevents these labor abuses. But even there, it comes back to us. We have to elect representatives who care about labor issues, unions, fair wages. Up till recently, Americans haven't done that. So I think ultimately America has the reckless corporatism that we deserve. It's not just the corporations, but the country at large that has let this happen.

[Deja Q]

111. I always went to CompUSA - they had THE best service, for a chain store...

They were the first to close thanks to Worst Buy...

Worst Buy bought into Geek Squad, which is why they have any visibility at all. And they're screwing everything they're touching too.

Time for SMBs to make a proper comeback. Who's with me?

[walldude]

75. People actually shop at Circut City?

I've been in there once. It was all over priced electronics. I walked around for about 5 minutes then went back to shopping on the internet.

[TommyO]

96. I actually have (note the use of past tense)

I bought an open-box computer for my mother for well under what it was selling for new, and just recently bought a 42" LCD TV, again open-box and saved $500 - it works perfectly

Never again though.

[underpants]

78. What exactly is a "wage management initiative"?

As I asked earlier
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=523211&mesg_id=523211

I haven't heard from my wife-she knows a bunch of people who work at "The City" the corp headquarters here in Richmond- if any of her friends are getting the axe

[WI_DEM]

84. well, Fuck Them and I hope they go out of business.

[Bluedogvoter]

115. And cost 46k people their jobs?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

94. It is a BOYCOTT by me. F*** 'em. n/t

[The Gunslinger]

95. Yea that $11an hour is waaaaay to much.

Says the fat cat CEO making 5,000,000/year.

That sucks. I was getting ready to buy a computer, and have bought them in the past because of their sales staff. I will shop elsewhere.

[Selatius]

97. Sounds like Circuit City is DESPERATELY in need of a LABOR UNION.

These people should pay a price for raping workers by having their workers unionized so that the workers can fight to reclaim their wages and fight for dignity.

[Initech]

101. Fuck Circuit City, that's the last time I shop there.

I'll stick with Best Buy for my entertainment needs. Circuit City stores are horrible, very poorly designed, and it's impossible to find anything I'm looking for in there. Fuck 'em.

[Nay]

104. 5 yrs ago, CC did the SAME thing by switching to an hourly wage instead

of a commission wage. My son, a real tech-head, worked there then and made very decent money for a high school kid because he knew literally EVERYTHING about their computers, phones, and stereos. Everything. People would come to the store and seek him out for advice. He worked at the main store here in CC's headquarters city, Richmond.

Then, out of the blue, CC decided to trash their commission selling plan and go to straight wages. In every case, my son and the other workers would NEVER be able to equal their commission wages. Never. He and a bunch of others quit, of course. And this was just what CC wanted, as you can imagine.

Now, CC is doing it again to push wages down even further? The hell with them.

Oh, my deceased father-in-law, the best salesman I ever met, ran his own business and hired salesmen to sell a product he produced. He always said that he LOVED to pay his salesmen their 50% cut (yes, 50%!) because the more they sold, the more money he made. What a novel idea!!!

[Elwood P Dowd]

105. Most CEOs for large retail chains are total idiots.

"He always said that he LOVED to pay his salesmen their 50% cut (yes, 50%!) because the more they sold, the more money he made. What a novel idea!!!"

They simply cannot understand that happy and well paid workers help create happy and satisfied customers....and more of them.....and more company profits. This plan will come back to bite CC in the ass.

[rman]

142. Not idiot enough not to get rich off of being CEO.

I think they're just criminals.

[n2doc]

107. Following the same path as CompUSA

Get rid of anybody with skills or experience, then lose all of your customers because 1, they can't find anything, 2, they can't get any advice, and 3, they can buy it for less on the internet if they don't get 1 and 2 anyway.
I predict bankruptcy in a year or 2.

[KatyaR]

112. CompUSA--what a joke.

Several years ago I spent almost $4,000 there in one sweep--computer, printer, monitor, pda, camera, you name it. It took me forever to find a salesperson, and when I did, he walked away from me to take 10 minutes to help a guy find a $12 computer cable. I guess the OVERFLOWING SHOPPING CART wasn't a big enough clue . . . .

I've never been back there since.

[Deja Q]

109. The rewards of working hard?! Who's the jackass that runs that little chain store, eh?

Thanks for reporting. I will NOT shop there anymore. Which is okay, their prices were often as bad as the competition's anyway...

I bet few of the fired will stay.

What a joke.

Still, Best Buy's "Geek Squad" still takes the cake for being the most visible yet poorest circuit-related service...

[lpbk2713]

116. I've had dealings with the *Geek Squad* before.

I found them to be way over rated. I got the impression they were just another B/B Sales Department.

[judaspriestess]

113. hmmm, somehow this is going to get blamed on the

those damn "Mexcuns" :eyes:

[fujiyama]

127. This is no better or worse than any other retailer out there

Actually 10-11 bucks an hour is pretty damn good for a job that requires no college degree. If you think that's bad, see what they'll pay ya at Wal-Mart. 8 bucks maybe if you're lucky.

But as for raising a family on $10/hour? Forget it.

People should understand that big box retailers have salespeople with little product training. Which products are marked up 150%? That's what they'll be pushing. I worked as a seasonal employee at BB for some time...Let's just say there's a reason they try to push Monster Cable. I did however take advantage of my discount when I was there though (most product were 5% above cost so you got an idea what the store bought things for)...

Most of my electronics purchases are done online now. Decent prices. No annoying salespeople. Instant product reviews. And reasonable shipping times for the reputable sellers. The only thing to verify when purchasing online is whether the retailer is AUTHORIZED so the manufacturer honors the warranty.

[dajoki]

139. Not what I have been reading...

Circuit City to Cut More Than 3,500 Jobs
By MAE ANDERSON and ELLEN SIMON
Updated: 6:31 p.m. ET March 28, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17831008

NEW YORK - A new plan for layoffs at Circuit City is openly targeting better-paid workers, risking a public backlash by implying that its wages are as subject to discounts as its flat-screen TVs.

<<snip>>

Analysts and economists said the move is an uncertain experiment that could backfire for the chain. The risks: Morale could sink and customers could avoid the stores. Also, knowledgeable customer service is one of the few ways Circuit City can tackle competitors that include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., they say.

"This strategy strikes me as being quite cold," said Bernard Baumohl, executive director of The Economic Outlook Group. "I don't think it's in the best interest of Circuit City as a whole."

While other companies, such as Caterpillar Inc., have introduced two-tiered wage systems, where newer workers make less, firing workers and offering to rehire them at a lower wage is very rare.

"I don't think you're going to find too many examples," of this, said Ken Goldstein, labor economist for the Conference Board, a business research group. "That certainly has not been a trend we've seen."

<<snip>>

Circuit City's cuts come at a time when other retailers are trying to put more knowledgeable workers on store floors. Home Depot Inc., whose new chief executive is struggling to re-ignite sales growth at its stores, said it has raised pay to attract skilled tradespeople, such as carpenters and electricians.

[nicknameless]

129. If you call CC's customer service, you get Manila, Philippines.

[murloc]

132. A rather common, but incredibly fatal mistake.

I can name a dozen defunct companys that were having problems, perhaps less than desireable profitability, or even small to large losses. They then took "action" to cut their losses.

So what did they do? - They screwed over their sales people, and then promptly found themselves with far far worse financial problems.

The last company I know that did this, cut their sales staff pay by about 20%...then promptly saw their sales drop by over 90%.

Circuit City will be gone within a few years.

[gauguin57]

134. I've boycotted Circuit City for years. BuyBlue has it listed as a very RED company.

Now, I'll never even park in the PARKING LOT in FRONT of a Circuit City.

[edhopper]

135. Two points

What happened to having better training and skills was the way Americans can keep their jobs?

And you can look at CompUSA to see what happens to a store with a staff that doesn't know shit. They're closing half of their locations.

[lpbk2713]

143. Glad to hear CompUSA is going down the tube.

They are a big OxyRush advertiser and I never liked them anyway.

[dajoki]

144. Looks like Rush got a little problem there. LOL!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: