Blackmoor Vituperative

Last month Circuit City announced it was closing 70 stores and separating around 400 employees.

Today they announced that they are separating another 3,400 associates. That by itself seems pretty bad, but look at what they told the people they are letting go:

The company has completed a wage management initiative that will result in the separation of approximately 3,400 store Associates. The separations, which are occurring today, focused on Associates who were paid well above the market-based salary range for their role. New Associates will be hired for these positions and compensated at the current market range for the job.

“We can get cheaper people than you, so we’re firing you and hiring some mooks off the street.”

I can believe that there might be a few people who are overpaid. It’s a pretty big company. But 3,400 people? That’s not an attempt to hire people at the “current market wage”. That’s an unabashed attempt to lower the “current market wage”.

And how does this mesh with the company firing 130 employees in the technology infrastructure division and replacing them with IBM contractors who cost the company two or three times as much? Circuit City has a lot of legacy systems (they never throw anything away, they just bolt on new pieces to what they already have), and it will take months, maybe years for an outsider to come in and get a handle on that. I think it’s crazy.