Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

Sounds like BERT

It’s almost like they will have to get off their lazy a-s and work

Orca is phucking garbage ! They need to fire dude that devised this crapolah

Be where you are supposed to be, with all of the safety paraphernalia utilized to it's fullest, and there's not much they can do to you. The local sub contractor in this area makes so many jobs and projects unworkable. I love turning it back on them, the waste is incredible. It's mental judo, make the corp suffer for each and every misguided attempt to bu-t stab craft.

buy some of those robot dogs, just don’t get them wet or overheated. make them all the same color.

It’s the companies way to make you miserable so you retire or quit!….nothing new from the T bean counters! Going on the Reg MST side for decades….Welcome to Micromanaging you to death…..

I wouldn't worry about it. As a prem tech there's ways around everything once you learn what they are looking for.

Having a Whale of a time with Orca, more OT. It’s staff’s version of a Rube Goldberg program, brilliant, job security.

I HATE ORCA.

Is there any way we can buy our way out of using orca? It seems like a waste of cash. There was nothing wrong with our current time reporting system. Are you getting this Stankey?

Anyone want to give their opinion now that they’ve had a chance to use orca? I know it’s much more time consuming.

I think we can all predict how this will end up.

This new software was sold to T and promised to be the perfect program to maximize productivity and efficiency. Perfect plan number 4189, except this one is really going to work, we promise.

It will be cumbersome to employees and management, and there will be a ton of technical issues causing numerous problems with payroll, efficiency numbers, etc. that will force workarounds to deal with all of the technical issues that are being created until either the problems are fixed or the workarounds just become permanent.

It will cause a ton of extra work for managers and employees and will just cause everyone to be less productive. Even if the software gets up to speed, it will be too much extra work and stress for 1st levels to try and enforce micromanaging employees every second of every day.

Techs will push back on it and there will be no uniformity as to how people put their time in each day. Although it may make employees hate their jobs a little more, they aren’t going to leave as long as they are getting a steady paycheck. The older employees certainly won’t go anywhere because they know nothing can really be done to them because of MSOC. As long as you are at the job site and aren’t committing some egregious code of conduct violations on company time, both employees and managers know that nothing can really be done to any of the core techs.

All in all, it will be just another venture in a really long line of wastes of time, effort and money by this company. T will never learn that threatening people with their jobs makes them work just hard enough to keep it.

Amazing how compliance changes, with different leadership.

Molly, you in danger girl!

Your job is “Compliance”. That’s it, nothing more nothing less. That’s the AT&T way. Incompetence at every level.

@uzr+1maeMkEn

You sound like a bitter Service Rep and want everybody miserable because you are.

Like the OP said, get ready for a micromanaged mess. Take a while but they will get there. Staff needs job justification, doing your job isn’t good enough anymore, they need useless statistics and reports.

Now techs have to be as productive as service reps with the same level of scrutiny.

No more sitting on jobs, completing tickets without ever making customer contact or creating incidental overtime.

Time to earn your pay.

Oh my god! CHANGE!!! Run away..,,,,

@gyv+1maeMkEn

It’s appropriate that they are spring boarding orca to the eeyore system. A gloomy, pessimistic program named after Winnie the Pooh’s friend.

@gyv+1maeMkEn

As you stated; you aren’t following directions, not dispatching , closing jobs or tasks in real time like they want. You can bet on it, It will be used as a disciplinary program, currently you are in violation of “failure to follow” and it can be used against you. Just because you aren’t being called out or disciplined for it today, doesn’t mean it won’t happen tomorrow or next week. There is a record now that you aren’t in compliance. I remember the early days of Atlas too as time went by it became a discipline tool and new inexperienced managers used it because numbers is all they know. They are beat down that bonus numbers are what matter, all else comes second.

They didn’t need a new micromanagement program for those “lazy chimps”. It’s very easy to discipline under the current or any other past systems. It’s incumbent on the manager to document, coach, train if applicable then discipline and follow up on those that aren’t doing their job. Most managers don’t want to take the time, follow the steps and do the paperwork for “lazy chimps”. It allows the “lazy chimps” to skate, they are either moved around to easy jobs or put to work with and penalize another productive employee. Most “lazy chimps” will respond and change their bad behaviors once they are found out, coached, trained if incompetent and disciplined, those that don’t deserve to lose their job.

So put the blame where it belongs, the manager isn’t or hasn’t done their job to correct the issue. Don’t kid yourself, there are “lazy chimps” in all levels of the company from the C-suite down, poor work ethics and incompetence isn’t level or rank specific.

The best thing to do would be to stay late and charge OT at the end of every day using that tedious system to enter your time. As long as you are at the job site, they can never fire you for your numbers.

Wear them out with official complaints to the state labor board each week.

It's not going away. ORCA is not designed to get people fired. It is designed to have employees be productive while getting paid.

Technicians will now be managed like Service Reps, minute by minute.

We had it good for decades, but let's be honest, we spend about half the day being paid to do nothing.

Accept the change, since the union will do zero, ans move on.

Fake news!!! If your a decent technician and do your job you will be fine!
Notice I said "decent", that's because this stupid orca is meant for the lazy chimps everyone has in every crew!
We have several that can barely find their own manhole much less a hand hole!
You do not have to do anything with Orca such as dispatching and closing jobs in real time like they want, you just do your time like we always did at the end of the day!
We have been on this stupid system for about 2 months now and have sort of figured it out!
Yes it is not meant for C and E its more like ATLAS which is what I and R uses but because we are sometimes on one job for more than 2 hours its stupid to be updating that thing!
I have gone days without inputing my time and then do it all on Friday!
So again unless your a stupid chimp and was barely making your numbers because your useless don't worry about it its gonna change anyway soon!
Orca is a springboard for some other system called iors or eors or something that works with elink!

PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) here we come. They can’t fire everyone, so let their new program fail. Just document via email and on paper, ask for additional steps as needed and be truthful about the time. We all know they have removed a lot of steps over the years and haven’t adjusted or added time accordingly to the few steps left. They haven’t done any meaningful time studies in years.

As always use the B’s; Be safe, be on time, be where you are supposed to be and be doing your job. Numbers aren’t our issue or concern as technicians, doing the job safely, in an environmentally manner and per practice is what matters despite what they tell you. File a grievance if they put you on a plan, It can and will be grieved in a meeting with a resulting win. Be sure to ask for your Union rep in any meeting with your manager as is your right per the law. If they continue to harass you about numbers or retaliate then start filing a harassment grievance weekly and watch what happens. Hate it for the lower level managers but upper management is creating the issue.

1. I had to p-e, Click
2. Walked down the hall to office and unlocked drawer with laptop, Click
3. Morning Bull Room meeting, Click
4. Looking over new job print for the day, Click
5. Going to the store room to get supplies, Click
6. Getting supplies, Click
7. Walking to vehicle, Click
8. Unlocking Bins, Click
9. Securing Laptop, Click
10. Loading supplies, cables, other materials, Click
11. Locking Bins, Click
12. Vehicle DOT inspection routine, Click
13. Picking up and storing chocks, Click
14. Entering vehicle, locking doors and putting on seatbelt, Click
15. Starting Vehicle, Click

Can’t, wait!
On and on it goes, hopefully when you arrive at job site it’s ready, 50/50.

Gonna miss OSPCM, it worked and much less complex. ORCA seems to be much more detailed and definitely not as user friendly. Employees will have to make constant updates to it throughout the day for all their task, not easy to do while working in all kind of environments and conditions. Engineers or managers will also need to add steps ad how throughout the day and try to make sure jobs are ready with correct steps before sending a technician.

I don’t think the company will benefit from more productivity, more than likely the quite the opposite, it will be a headache for all involved and add a lot of unnecessary work. Yet another nepotistic sales job with a power point presentation, no doubt!

Incompetents justifying heir own miserable existence with meaningless and inaccurate statistics.

I heard that they fired the msoc people for CO techs. We need more of that.

Unfortunately many of us experienced employees and near to retirement will have to put up with the constant stress and harassment. We don’t have as many options due to needing to learn new skills and age discrimination in the workforce. A lot of specific telecommunications skills are non transferable after having a long career at AT&T.

Thanks for the warning, this sounds like the old Six Sigma nonsense. If it’s not broke then we should try to fix it plan.