I know a few folks who got promoted to AVP level when AT&T acquired DTV. They were just PPT machine, creating worthless PPT decks with really dump ideas (like installing a satellite dish on every rooftop) - clueless individuals who actively participated the DTV acquisition disaster. Unfortunately, most of those "AVPs" are still around.
18 replies (most recent on top)
@1kiz+1gOFuNol "You have no concept of the amount of work happening outside your narrow little world that actually makes your world possible... The amount of innovation, development, support, training and process guidance necessary to enable you to do nearly any task, simple or complex."
You mean the engineers who can't design plans properly, the lawyers who pick out the outdated tools we're required to use, the bean counters who push us to cut corners in quality, the safety guys who harass us with ridiculous rules that hurts/tires us out more than the job itself, the useless video trainings that everyone skips, the logistics folks who can't maintain enough overpriced supplies in stock, etc...
@1pss+1gOFuNol "The difference between most union employees and normal non-union workers is that the union folks make 25 to 40% more money"
I sometimes envy the freedom some of these contractors have to get things done, I'm sure they're happy with the 25 to 40% pay cut knowing they don't have to deal with such horrible "supervisors". But hey, some folks actually want to be middle class to put their kids through college, so they'll milk the company a bit. But don't worry! It's only pennies compared to the amount that the C-suite, AVPs, and VPs steal.
Most VPs and AVPs are window dressing. They are the make busy people of redundancy.
@1kiz+1gOFuNol. Truth brother. Some things with the union never change. I can’t, I don’t or I won’t almost always = “Let me call my supervisor”. The person they despise the most and have the least respect for, is always the get out of jail free card they play the quickest, without fail. The difference between most union employees and normal non-union workers is that the union folks make 25 to 40% more money without the additional skill that merits it. Welcome to AT&T’s dilemma. Same goes for any other large corporation with an embedded union workforce.
@1tdo+1gOFuNol. It’s almost comical listening to you. As usual of union employees, you have an exaggerated view of your worth. You have no concept of the amount of work happening outside your narrow little world that actually makes your world possible. You should think about that when you’re working on whatever you do from day to day. The amount of innovation, development, support, training and process guidance necessary to enable you to do nearly any task, simple or complex. Without all of that and the people that make it happen, you would essentially just come in to work and stand around screaming for a supervisor to help you.
ATT needs to force span of control numbers
AD (L2) 15 employees
Director (L3) 15 AD's and Non manger L3's (225 total employees)
AVP (L4) 15 Directors plus staff (3.3k)
VP (L5) 20 AVP's plus staff( 67k)
Everyone above L5 needs 25+ of the level below them.
My numbers might be high - but AVP's need to have 1.5k-2k reporting to them
and VP need 15k-20k
AVPs do not "do anything" as such. They're always cooking up schemes to get more headcount, of course. But really they're there to babysit Directors and push corporate policy down. Enforcers, basically.
Sure you could get rid of them, but then who is gonna keep an eye on the Directors? It needs to be done and VP/SVP don't have time for that "stuff".
It's the union employees that actually make the AT&T network and internet of things a reality. We're in the trenches actually getting things done and not pushing paper around!
If not for the AT&T union workers that take pride in what they do and actually care on how they sign-off from a job, T would be reliant on contractors. Believe me, I've had to follow-up on contract work many times and all too often it looks like it was somebody's first day on the job that did the work. Not pretty!
Are any AVPs worth keeping?
Get rid of overpaid union employees: Pure Overhead
3 hours ago by Anonymous | 5 reactions (+1/-4)
Post ID: @aka+1gOFuNol
Do you mean all of the workforce that installs and repairs EVERYTHING that AT&T sells? You might have AT&T "leadership" potential. Well, probably not. Likely you just sell cell phones. What a joke.
Ha, expert advice running company via anonymous forum.
My AVP has 2 town halls per year, presents project status created by work teams, aka, other people. There is the only visible "work product" that me and my peers can see. I'm sure all the hard work behind the scenes are hugely important to the success of the company. Does it justify a large salary and 26% bonus?
Why don’t we just get rid of all lazy people. I’m sure there are plenty of la’s in all jobs across the company.
It will trim the fat and we will be a much more efficient company.
Get rid of overpaid union employees: Pure Overhead
How about getting rid of all even number layers of management?
Throw Directors in there too.
I think you are reaching too low. Think big.
Nope, never gonna happen. AVP's are almost like a protected class. Not sure why, most would never be missed if they disappeared tomorrow.