Circuit City is firing 3,400 store workers because it thinks it's paying them too much. To rub salt into the wound, it is offering the retail fat cats some severance and the chance to apply for their old jobs - at lower wages. But only 10 weeks after they have been fired. This company is all heart.

According to Circuit City, America's second biggest electronics retailer, the pink slipees - about eight per cent of the company's staff - are earning "well above the market-based salary range for their role". Remember, these are store workers we are talking about. And it will replace them with people at the going market rate.

Wall Street marked the retailer's shares up two per cent today on the news.

Last month, rival retailer CompUSA decided to shut down more than half of its stores in US and Puerto Rico. ®

Related stories

• Circuit City files for bankruptcy protection (10 November 2008)
• Blockbuster withdraws $1bn Circuit City bid (2 July 2008)
• Circuit City reports Q1 loss as US shoppers unplug (20 June 2008)
• Circuit City runs up the white flag (9 May 2008)
• Systemax saves CompUSA from knacker's yard (6 January 2008)
• Best Buy churns out the profits in Q3 (18 December 2007)
• CompUSA goes titsup (10 December 2007)
• Circuit City has outstandingly awful Q1 (20 June 2007)
• Best Buy amps up Apple volumes (4 April 2007)
• Best Buy swallows Speakeasy whole (27 March 2007)
• CompUSA jettisons 126 stores (28 February 2007)
• IBM builds Second Life store for Circuit City (18 December 2006)