I'm a new outside hire in IT on the Consumer side (Arroyo led part). How is this part of AT&T? Is it better to be in IT on the business unit or in ATS? I'm jazzed up about it but also see a lot of noise in this group. I have ~10yrs programming, ops background. btw.
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Been with T for a long time and the IT work that is of any meaningful significance is usually outsourced to India. Even if your certifications and skills are current as a technician, you never ever get to utilize them. T basically dumbs you down by not allowing you to do any of the real IT work. T is not a good company to work for in IT unless you live in India, sad to say. You forget anything you might have learned by working for T, so best advice is to go to a smaller company that gives you a multitude of IT responsibilities and learning opportunities!
As an AT&T IT retiree who spent the better part of the last decade dodging layoffs while in Arroyo's organization, my advice is to take your talents elsewhere. AT&T has a boatload of legacy systems, and views IT as a cost center rather than an asset. If your job doesn't get outsourced, and you stay with AT&T, at best you will spend your time maintaining antique legacy systems while your skills erode. Good luck with your decision and Happy New Year.
You mean IT hasn't been completely outsourced yet? /s
I'm sorry.
If you have talent — LEAVE. This is not a good company to work for anymore. Constant layoffs, constant chipping away of benefits, morale is at an all-time low, and as many have said the management these days is toxic. I've heard from Stankey down the chain that management no longer want employees to stay and make a career out of this company. LEAVE if you can. As Stankey says: no place is safe in this company. Except if you are Stankey.
Should try to get into the business side as an installer like Business Field Services...lots of growth in that area of the business is projected to occur over the next few years!
In my opinion Jeremy Legg is future of IT at AT&T. Eric Boyer who leads consumer IT is one of those executives that move around AT&T. That group will be integrated back into ATS eventually. Just a matter of time.
I hope you didn't leave a good job to join AT&T. As the CEO said "nobody is safe". Morale company wide is low. In Consumer IT you will be in danger of being cut, outsourced to Tech M. or rebadged to Accenture. If not, you will be subjected to multiple reorganizations during the year. Your manager at the beginning of the year will likely not be the same person at the end of the year. Always keep your options open and your resume ready. That's the best advise I can give you.
It's hard to beat Stankey or Randall, but I have to say Arroyo is the most lackluster officer-level at AT&T. It's hard to enumerate so much as a single discernible skill he has. Cingular flailed under him. He was sent to Mexico for a while to oversee the shambles there, and now he's back in consumer without a single unique thought or cogent strategy. Even on soft skills, the guy is shockingly unable to even carry out a conversation without sounding like a stilted, nervous dweeb with nothing but buzzwords to vomit in his weak, squeaky voice. Total loser. Maybe you'll have a better direct chain of command, but if you have to look to Arroyo for a bright light, you're not going to find it.