If I'm being honest, while this is not the best job I've ever had it's certainly not the worst. I mostly knew what I was getting into when I joined re. work, pay, benefits, and stuff like that. One thing I didn't expect was the constant threat of layoffs. I thought I did my due diligence but somehow I missed that. Still, at the time it wouldn't have been a deal-breaker for me. But after a few more years I can see it becoming one. So for once, no raging at the company. It's a decent job with decent pay. I'm happy to continue for two more years and then reassess - unless I'm laid off in the meantime.
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Stay until vested then run for the hills.
Layoffs are Att's business model! They spend, make terrible business decisions, then layoff highest paid employees with most tenure, right before they have to go ask for more money to lower debt. They rehire at a fraction of the cost, rinse repeat depending on department!
The only thing 1st level managers are concerned with these days is safety, period! They never ever discuss the state of the business or what we should expect down the road. I don’t know if it’s because they’re clueless and their superiors don’t keep them informed or if they’re just very poor communicators. Either way, supervisors are completely uninspiring, disengaged, disinterested, lack motivation and ostensibly couldn’t care less! They’re merely in it just for the paycheck and rarely show up at work. I think employees are just burned out from the constant threat of layoffs and no longer give a dam, sad to say, but I can’t say I blame them!
“Let me check your rubber gloves and fvd quick, I gotta get outta here. I’m scared”
I retired with over 22 years and received the fifty thousand plus sipp severance offered due to Covid 19. Moved on to another job because I’m too young to stop working. I worked outside in SSIM, DLC - DEG, Construction, pots- dsl installer and inside as a Central office ET. What I noticed in the last few years was that the managers seemed to be more concerned about a spread sheet than getting the work done correctly. Look at customers reviews on the Better Business Bureau site and you’ll read what many customers told me in person when I went to their business to install ethernet and Gig internet service. If the first level managers are so worried about a spread sheet because the second level gives them a hard time and threatens dismissal everyday, they should still be concerned about providing service instead of being scared of a spread sheet. Read the customers reviews and then you’ll know why managers get fired all the time. When a first level manager says he’s going to a new position it means he couldn’t hack it and is getting fired. Why do the recent first level managers not last in the position? Because they don’t know much about the technology AT&T sells today and also older equipment that is still maintained. I think they should read a book once in a while and quit being chicken about spending time in the field learning. Checking a technicians rubber gloves and FVD doesn’t cut it.
Welcome to corporate America, too is middle of the road when it comes to layoffs vs. job security, lot depends on your division etc. Reality is corporate America in 2021 is very different than in the 1980s, 90s when some of the old timers are T started.. The workplace is changing, and not for the benefit of the worker .. So take it for what is is a JOB , no more .. its just a business arrangement, you offer your service they pay you . that;s it.
Here's the thing: the threat of layoffs will ALWAYS be at T and there is NOBODY safe, other than the c-suite. Now while some might say that's just the reality at any job, he/she is wrong. I am at a different place and there's not the worry of layoffs every quarter. And that matters, because I didn't realize how much the constant stress of layoffs at T was affecting my work, my happiness, and my overall health until I got this new job. It's kind of like how someone in an abusive household doesn't realize how bad it is until they leave and find a healthy home.
My advice to you is to make your resume all nice and pretty and start looking for something new NOW! Don't wait another day. Two years is long enough to not be seen as a job-hopper by companies, and you probably learned about as much as you ever will at T.
The choice is yours, but as much as it sounds like a pitch to try and get an addict into therapy, if you do leave you'll be amazed at how much better your overall life will be.
Covid was a blessing for ATT because they are able to downsize under the guise of declining revenues even though the 1st quarter looked very good! Loyalty is a thing of the past! My advice from a 35 year long employee is to start looking now fow another opportunity. They're out there. T is a very difficult company to move up in unless you're connected.
Mistake one, interviewing at T.
Mistake two, accepting a job at T.
Mistake three, staying here one minute longer thsn it takes to find a better job.
Nothing eill improve at T unit the megalomaniac Stinky and the BoD are replaced.
Reassess every year, around bonus pay out. Loyalty is dead, you don't owe the company anything. Company will give you 2 weeks notice, that is it.
Layoffs will be with you where ever you go, and as long as you are working. All I can say is expect that your working career my be shorter than you like or might expect. There is no such thing as loyalty anymore and most companies don't look at older employers as assets. You will hear that "we need to get younger", "attract new talent", and of course increase minority representation. Depending on where you fall in all of this periodic layoffs have become the tool to get this done without actually firing people, and better yet if you can do it under the cover of a recession or cutback.
Threats of layoffs will continue. The first one I remember was back in 2004. Continue to add value, make a contributiin and move to a new role if you find yourself in a place that's not getting budget money.
Good luck.