One of the curious
things about writing a blog is that sometimes, you get delayed reaction and
feedback from something you’ve written. So it is with Circuit City.
I wrote two blog
items, “More Gibberish from Circuit City”
and “Age Bias Suit at Circuit City”
that centered on the decision by
the electronics retailer to fire about 3,400 workers because they were getting
paid “well above the market-based salary range for their role.” From my
perspective, it seemed stupid and shortsighted to get rid of your best and most
experienced workers in a cost-reduction frenzy. For all of Circuit City’s many troubles, this rash and
ill-advised management decision appears to be adding to the company’s
troubles.
Readers of this blog
had some interesting things to say about that. Here are a few of their comments:
From Christopher (no
city listed): “Had to comment on
your postings re Circuit City. Not only did my HRCI prep class use this as a
real-time case study, but I personally e-mailed and called CC’s corporate office
in an attempt to see if we could access any of their IT professionals for my
company. Guess what? Never heard back from them. Guess where I haven’t shopped
since?”
From RMack in
Florida (who titled his e-mail “Circuit City being run by
knuckleheads”): “It’s amazing that
upper management [at Circuit City] does not see [what they are doing].When I try
to buy a DVD ($12) I’ve got 2-3 people looking to help me. When I went to buy a
new TV ($1,000) I couldn’t get anyone to help me. I ended up complaining twice
and walked out 30 minutes later. After I calmed down, I called back the manager,
and let him know I was going to Best Buy. He knocked another $200 off of a TV
already on sale. It saved me about $550. Point is ... I should not have to get
crazy just to buy a TV from a kid.”
From Michael (no
location given): “The articles
you provided about Circuit City, RadioShack and Merrill Lynch are more
great examples of employees being treated as “No Heads.” I’m no longer
surprised by such management stupidity, but I still wince
at such counterproductive, shortsighted and unnecessary
practices.”
From Paulette (no location
given): “I want
to add my 2 cents to why Circuit City has a loss in sales. I, for one, am
boycotting them. I will not do business with an organization that treats their
best employees in this manner. I have spoken to many people who are also taking
their business elsewhere because of this layoff. I would not want to be treated
in this manner, and I feel like there is a total lack of integrity in any
company who does treat their employees this
way.”
Got a comment
about one of my posts? I love to hear what you say—even if you think I’m the
knucklehead. Until we get the comment posting function on this blog operational,
send me comments at jhollon@workforce.com. I will publish as many of them as I can.
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