In late March, DailyTech
reported that Circuit
City fired 3,400 employees in an effort to trim costs. The jobs cuts
represented eight percent of Circuit City's overall workforce and came just a month
after the company's announcement to close nearly 70 stores in
North America.
"These actions represent the execution phase of the
work initiated this winter to accelerate Circuit City's transformation,"
said Circuit City president, chairman and CEO Philip J. Schoonover in March.
"Unfortunately, a number of Associates are directly impacted by the
actions, but we are making Circuit City stronger for the long term."
It now appears that the March firings were just the
beginning. Circuit City is gearing up for another round of layoffs to build on
its four pillars for success: to win in
home entertainment, grow its services business, leverage the shift to
multichannel retailing, and significantly improve its real estate position. The
pillars are a part of Circuit City's 5-year plan to restructure the company and
expand its reach into more profitable sectors of the technology market.
This time around, the company axed
roughly one manager from each of its 654 stores along with nearly 200
positions at its Richmond, VA headquarters.
Despite the 850 jobs cuts, Circuit City has plans to open 165
new stores.
Online forums have been abuzz since yesterday about the
impending job cuts. Many who were fired have even expressed disdain for Circuit
City’s “North Star” concepts which are supposed to help and guide employees:
- Engage - Excite And Inspire Me
- Respect - Treat Me Like I Matter
- Teach - Guide And Support Me
- Simplify - Make It Easy For Me
In today's increasingly more cut-throat marketplace, it
appears that the "Respect" aspect of Circuit City's North Star
initiative shouldn't be taken too literally.