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03/29/2007 01:20:36 AM · #1 |
My thoughts on it...
Circuit City lays off 3400 employees to be replaced by people who will work for less money...
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03/29/2007 01:23:38 AM · #2 |
I heard that same broadcast on the NPR tonight while I was out driving around.
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03/29/2007 01:31:41 AM · #3 |
It's not just Circuit City, it's pretty much any big company.
I'm with you, and I will not shop at Circuit City. Never really did, actually. So no real big loss on my part. |
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03/29/2007 01:34:50 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by Marc923:
It's not just Circuit City, it's pretty much any big company.
I'm with you, and I will not shop at Circuit City. Never really did, actually. So no real big loss on my part. |
Most companies don't come out and state so directly that they are canning people because the are making more than market-level pay. It's not the employee's fault if this happens.
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03/29/2007 01:37:06 AM · #5 |
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03/29/2007 01:44:10 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Originally posted by Marc923:
It's not just Circuit City, it's pretty much any big company.
I'm with you, and I will not shop at Circuit City. Never really did, actually. So no real big loss on my part. |
Most companies don't come out and state so directly that they are canning people because the are making more than market-level pay. It's not the employee's fault if this happens. |
Circuit City did this a few years back. I know of a man (he was in his 30's, married with three children) he was making around $17 per hour in the computer sales department. Bringing home good money for retail but it was his hard work that got him to that point. He knew what he was selling and took time to help people. He told me that Circuit City basically fired sale people that was making more than $10 per hour and kept the ones that was making less. Of course they offered him and others the same job but they could not make no more than $10 per hour. It was take it or leave it. So he left.
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03/29/2007 01:59:46 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by Southern Gentleman:
Circuit City did this a few years back. I know of a man (he was in his 30's, married with three children) he was making around $17 per hour in the computer sales department. Bringing home good money for retail but it was his hard work that got him to that point. He knew what he was selling and took time to help people. He told me that Circuit City basically fired sale people that was making more than $10 per hour and kept the ones that was making less. Of course they offered him and others the same job but they could not make no more than $10 per hour. It was take it or leave it. So he left. |
The article briefly discussed sales people switching from commission-based sales to hourly rates a while back. Commission-based sales in a place like that can be excellent. I worked for Office Depot a long time ago in their computer department on a commission. I was just part time and I was making more than the store manager. I was averaging $20-$22 per hour. They were paying 1.5% after the draw of the hourly pay, which didn't take much to beat.
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03/29/2007 02:37:26 AM · #8 |
On one hand, it sucks that they do this to their employees, on the other hand, it is their business decision and they have to be competitive or ultimately those people would lose their jobs anyway. If it is simply greed that drove the decision, it will very likely backfire from poor customer service, etc. - that is corporate karma - the market rewards and punishes a company's actions. Personally, I never liked them ayway.
CompUSA is closing all their stores in Washington. I haven't looked into it much, but I am guessing they can't compete with online sales as far as PC equipment goes and PC service is a dying industry since computers are almost disposable anymore.
The lesson I would hope people would take away is that as long as you work for anyone else, your future (and your present) is in their hands. Even the ones that try to do right by their employees can get bought out by a competitor who will usually clean house, or get run out by market conditions.
While I could complain about how unfair or unwise it was for my company to downsize me, merger me away, lay me off because they spent too much money on corporate parties, etc, whining won't feed my family. And I've been through all of those things several times in my career. Now I work for myself and if I can't feed my family, it's my own damn fault - and although it is majorly stressful, it is also very liberating.
Message edited by author 2007-03-29 02:39:03. |
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03/29/2007 04:28:51 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by Art Roflmao:
On one hand, it sucks that they do this to their employees, on the other hand, it is their business decision and they have to be competitive or ultimately those people would lose their jobs anyway. If it is simply greed that drove the decision, it will very likely backfire from poor customer service, etc. - that is corporate karma - the market rewards and punishes a company's actions. Personally, I never liked them ayway.
CompUSA is closing all their stores in Washington. I haven't looked into it much, but I am guessing they can't compete with online sales as far as PC equipment goes and PC service is a dying industry since computers are almost disposable anymore.
The lesson I would hope people would take away is that as long as you work for anyone else, your future (and your present) is in their hands. Even the ones that try to do right by their employees can get bought out by a competitor who will usually clean house, or get run out by market conditions.
While I could complain about how unfair or unwise it was for my company to downsize me, merger me away, lay me off because they spent too much money on corporate parties, etc, whining won't feed my family. And I've been through all of those things several times in my career. Now I work for myself and if I can't feed my family, it's my own damn fault - and although it is majorly stressful, it is also very liberating. |
On the flip side of that (well, one of the sides at least) - CompUSA isn't making it anymore because they've become a "little guy". All there huge stores can't make it anymore because of the Ultra megastores online. If big 'ol stores like compUSA with Juggernaut marketing dollars are struggling what does that say about the guy working out of his basement.
I'm not saying people can't make it working on their own (obviously) but it is getting harder and harder.
I'm more just a hobbiest at this point but to give an example my wife's best friend was thinking about getting her picture taken. My wife said "Dan will take your picture for free, he's a photographer, has all the equipment and will do a great job" (and I would have too, why not, it's my wife's best friend). Her argument was no, she'll just go to Walmart sometime, they only charge $9 and it's just easier that way. My wife couldn't talk her into it.
Granted I didn't say anything or push the issue (I wasn't REALLY involved in the conversation) but it just goes to show you need to have something really unique that people really want to get people not to go to Walmart or wherever and just get the cheap robotic package deal. I couldn't make it selling $9 portrait sessions. |
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03/29/2007 04:51:50 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by Megatherian:
On the flip side of that (well, one of the sides at least) - CompUSA isn't making it anymore because they've become a "little guy". All there huge stores can't make it anymore because of the Ultra megastores online. If big 'ol stores like compUSA with Juggernaut marketing dollars are struggling what does that say about the guy working out of his basement. |
I hear ya and think that sucks. Who is ultimately responsible for the situation we're all in ? Ultimately, I believe it is the consumers - ourselves - not WalMart, McD's etc. They are nothing without our patronage. And as much as we all want to do the right thing, how many of us are willing to pay more to do it? For those that are, how much more?
I see people on DPC making your point as well, but if I owned a small camera shop and I posted my link to it and people saw that I sold memory cards for $99 and they knew they could get them at WalMart or xyz.com for $89 or less, how many do you suppose will stop to think that maybe they should practice what they preach and support their local small business?
Anyway - I'm not sure what the solution is. I'm not a fan of regulation, but in the interest of keeping the economy afloat and reducing reliance on foreign labor and products, I am always happy to compromise. |
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03/29/2007 07:25:36 AM · #11 |
Originally posted by Art Roflmao:
[
...I owned a small camera shop and I posted my link to it and people saw that I sold memory cards for $99 and they knew they could get them at WalMart or xyz.com for $89 or less, how many do you suppose will stop to think that maybe they should practice what they preach and support their local small business? |
For a memory card, I would hazard to guess that I would purchase from the large retail outlet. However, anything involving things that require service, repair, instructions and the like I definitely buy from the local small business.
Past experiences has shown me that in the long run I am much better off paying a slightly higher price, as I get something that most big retailers don't provide... SERVICE.
Ray |
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03/29/2007 08:45:39 AM · #12 |
| My son worked for a competing company---Best Buy. He got a great employee discount which extended to me also---which was at the time basically the cost of what Best Buy paid for the item. I was shocked at the huge mark-up on most electronics. Some items such as computers had small mark-ups and other items such as cameras, and stereo equipment could be marked up at 75%, and there were even some items at 95%! Needless to say--I replaced every appliance in my home at a fantastic savings, and bought many electronic toys as well. These companies rake in the money! The article in my newspaper said they got rid of anyone making 51 cents over their set average hourly wage. The cost of living here in Naples, FL is through the roof and many of the employees here got the axe. I wonder too why the CEO's and other over-paid management employees don't take a cut in their pay so they can retain the better and more qualified sales people in their work force. The same people who deal directly with their customers and future customers. |
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03/29/2007 08:58:10 AM · #13 |
Originally posted by dagaleaa:
I wonder too why the CEO's and other over-paid management employees don't take a cut in their pay... |
People got cut so that the stockholders make more money and then give the CEO his millions + bonus. |
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03/29/2007 09:52:29 AM · #14 |
Originally posted by Megatherian:
[quote=Art Roflmao]
argument was no, she'll just go to Walmart sometime, they only charge $9 and it's just easier that way. My wife couldn't talk her into it.
Granted I didn't say anything or push the issue (I wasn't REALLY involved in the conversation) but it just goes to show you need to have something really unique that people really want to get people not to go to Walmart or wherever and just get the cheap robotic package deal. I couldn't make it selling $9 portrait sessions. |
My sister-in-law used to work for the Wal-Mart portraits and she admitted to me that the $9 session is a draw. It is $9 for a package, but only for the one pose. If others are wanted its $20 a page. It's down right insanity.
I have a friend who swears she saves money at Wal-mart, Sears and Pennys, but she spends well over $150 at a time. It makes me slightly bitter towards her because she's always giving me speaches about supporting local shops and supporting friends, yet she has basically stated she'll never use me. In the end I don't even talk to her about my career. I'm doing very well without her, I just wish some people would practice what they preach. |
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03/29/2007 10:05:37 AM · #15 |
Originally posted by Art Roflmao:
On one hand, it sucks that they do this to their employees, on the other hand, it is their business decision and they have to be competitive or ultimately those people would lose their jobs anyway. |
I think this is it in a nutshell. Whatever the reason for the decision, it's a business decision, and doesn't reflect general ill will of the company toward its employees. In fact, I'm sure it was a difficult decision to make, given how poorly it would be viewed in the media.
jmsetzler says in his blog post that the employees "have given over a significant part of their lives to the company," to paraphrase. Didn't those people get gainful employment in return? They certainly weren't showing up to work out of the goodness of their hearts.
As well, working at a giant retailer probably isn't the step one takes toward financial independence. I would think it's a notoriously erratic work situation, like working in a restaurant, and like a restaurant, unless your eye is on a general management position or partnering somehow with the ownership, I wouldn't think that anyone would consider it a career move. (I worked in restaurants for more than a decade.) This isn't to disparage anyone's choice of employment, and maybe some people have very little choice, but realistically, I would think a person would know that there are more stable sources of employment than Circuit City. |
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03/29/2007 10:06:59 AM · #16 |
As stated, this is nothing new. CC deserves some credit for at least being honest and upfront about their reasoning.
The problem is, people take an entry level job and expect raises every year while not advancing beyond that entry level job. In manufacturing I see people get stuck in a job because of this all the time. They do the same job for 10-15 years and with their yearly raises it gets to the point where they can’t take any other job, even a promotion, because it’s a pay cut. They end up making double what they were making when they started for doing the exact same job at the same levels, and the company’s customers expect the product to cost less! It’s not uncommon to see a guy in the shop that’s been there 30 years making the same as his manager’s manager. Why do you think a car cost so much? The guy at GM that has been sweeping the floors for 30 years makes $90K/year!
Most companies fight this with a pay cap, where you don’t get a raise anymore once you make a certain amount. Then you must earn and accept a promotion with more responsibility to increase your pay. Sounds like CC didn’t have a cap and had been good about giving their employees annual raises, but are now seeing that it’s costing them too much.
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03/29/2007 10:31:27 AM · #17 |
Originally posted by Marc923:
Originally posted by dagaleaa:
I wonder too why the CEO's and other over-paid management employees don't take a cut in their pay... |
People got cut so that the stockholders make more money and then give the CEO his millions + bonus. |
Correct on your reasons. People always like to look at the CEO’s salary and bonus and say why don’t they cut their pay instead of laying people off.
It’s supply and demand. A kick butt CEO like those that run the fortune 500 companies make a ton of money because everybody wants them and those with money are willing to pay it. Same reason star baseball players get offered 10 year 200 million dollar guaranteed contracts. No one person is worth that much, but if you want them bad enough that is the price because if you don’t pay it the NY Yankees will. If just anyone could handle being CEO of Boeing, GM, GE, Ford or Circuit City then it would pay a lot less. If just anyone could hit .330 with 50 home runs A-Rod would be working at Circuit City for $12/hour.
As for stock holders, they own the company. If you want to keep the company around you have to keep them happy, and that means give them $$$. No stockholders (or investors if it’s not a public company) no company. No one has a job.
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03/29/2007 10:32:23 AM · #18 |
yeah, the man is pushing down his thumb again...
inequality and unfairness is nothing new, but our country takes hypocrisy to new levels each time we walk into a wal-mart or any other like-business, each time we have to upgrade our cell-phone to the latest designer color, each time we order a diet drink to go with our triple-cheeseburgers.
if people would live within their means, rather than racking up unsurmountable credit card debts while draining all the equity out of their homes in order to have the latest, biggest, most whatever, there would be a lot less heartburn whenever a company does something to try to repair its bottom line. |
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