Another stankey log flushed down the AT&T sewer pipes - LETTERS!

This pertains to management: Letters to all employees being distributed as early as next week. Here's what's known (SUBJECT TO CHANGE):

Your manager will receive your letter first. They will schedule 1-on-1 calls with you to talk about it.
Some employees will get their letters before others. It will really depend on when your manager releases it to you.
There will be two phases. The first phase will focus on people who are outside of the 9 hub zones. The second phase will focus on people inside the 9 hub zones.
There will be mandatory relocations.
You may have to relocate to another hub location to be with your org, even you are already in a hub location.
You will have two options. Accept the relocation and be given 12-24 months to report to the new location. Decline the relocation will count as a resignation. Not replying counts as a resignation.
There is absolutely no exit strategy or plan in place to replace key or mission critical people. Leadership is making this up as they go.
Expect people to quit. Expect things to stop working.
This is a layoff in disguise. Leadership is expecting people to quit to make people fit their RTO mandate.
There are some half-baked attempts at accommodating relocations (Dallas is expanding parking garages.)
There will be NO assigned seats or desks. Employees will be assigned to a specific building and a specific floor.
Letters will contain your new RTO designation.

Stuff that currently isn't 100% confirmed, but strongly hinted at:

Relocation costs will not be covered. You will have to pay for the move out of pocket.
Medical accommodations and exemptions will go through the same old HR system. They may or may not exempt you from the letter. Personally, I wouldn't count on it unless the law is on your side.
Claims that the company is "concerned" about your safety when commuting to urban hubs and is in talks with security contractors. Take it as you will, but don't hold your breath. This likely means you'll just have the typical security guard stationed at the lobby.

I really hate how leadership belittles and tortures people with this mystery cloak and dagger game. So if they can't talk, I will. This is everything that has been disbursed thus far.

I have three things to add:
Contrary to the actions of the company, you are worth something: don't underestimate your abilities. Having to update your resume and look for a new job is an inconvenience, but it's not the end of the world. You will realize that once you get out of this toxic relationship of being treated like a wet mop.

Don't be a loser. While others are whining to HR about MS Teams avatars, take this as an opportunity to lay down your accomplishments, brush up your interview questions, practice leetcode. Set a daily alarm clock and force yourself. Whatever it takes. Don't say you'll do it. DO IT.

Protect yourself and your own interests. Don't do anything silly that would land you in legal trouble. This circus ain't worth it. At the rate they are going, they will sink themselves.

Comment! It's anonymous!

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“ Relocation costs will not be covered. You will have to pay for the move out of pocket.”

This was explicitly stated to my org today. But apparently we get discounts through AT&T’s connections or something.

There is also a strategy to reduce international workforce. Three “hubs” (India, Bratislava, and Tel Aviv). Some countries have more stringent labor laws so they could be delayed, and I would bet customer-facing may get to stick around longer.

How much longer until they sell off AT&T Mexico?

I agree with most of it, just not sure where the 12–24 months to move is coming from. Most people seem to be under the impression, from whatever limited information given to us so far, that we're looking at 6 months, or January 1st. This is what our org was told.

But to be clear, no one I personally know has received the "letter" yet, so we don't know for sure.

Stankey made a lit of enemies in the media biz and that’s starting to come back to bite him. This is only the beginning.

This doesn’t really pertain to customer facing positions/roles/ groups in local
Market locations. 99% of those people will stay exactly where they are. Those positions cannot function without market proximity.

The OP didn’t say there would be no severance, I’m going to suggest perhaps it’s just semantics- by using ‘resignation’ people are assuming they meant no severance .
Sounds legit other than that.

Fake news. In my org the people IN hubs are being addressed first. Complete opposite of the OP.

Read the server documentation before posting inaccurate information like you know. If your job moves and you cannot find an equivalent job in your location and resign, you are entitled to severance.

I am not saying I trust Stankey and the rest not to try to sc--w us, they have proven themselves to be incompetent and uncaring but the current documentation means people should be eligible. I suspect if you say you are going to move and then don't you will not get severance...

If they tell you to move and you decline, that is not a resignation. They will dismiss you and provide you the severance they are required to under policy.

For that reason, I believe this post by the OP is BS.

Decline a relocation constitutes resignation, with no severance payable? Well, an army of plaintiff HR attorneys bundled into a class action lawsuit gonna love that, and they'll gladly review your att employment contract clauses on mobility requirements for your job. Yes, it will take time. But att gonna see legal costs and some payouts, maybe a real biggie if this is deemed constructive dismissal in bad faith by some courts somewhere. Att is not well loved in many courts.

This is not accurate in my org.

Thank you OP.

Send the letters now and rip the bandaid off vs. this continued pulling it off nice & slow (having no game plan that is going on)!

Be productive and start updating your resume now!

“There is absolutely no exit strategy or plan in place to replace key or mission critical people. Leadership is making this up as they go. Expect people to quit. Expect things to stop working.”

Think 911 calls.

Not every work group is handling this the same. Hubs are not a thing to save people in most groups. Just because I am in one doesn’t mean my job is safe. By now, if you have no idea of your fate that’s pathetic.

Dude you want me to quit without the severance and unemployment benefit. He-l NO. I want to be laid off or fired without the cause.

The problem is that once all the local employees return to the office they will have zero room for relocation folks. Webphone confirms they’re full.

Well said.

Until I saw this I was skeptical that this was in any way genuine:

"There is absolutely no exit strategy or plan in place to replace key or mission critical people. Leadership is making this up as they go."

This told me it was legit.

And the conclusion is sound advice and every single T employee should really take it to heart: consider this the wake-up call to shake you out of your comfortable inertia and get back into a job-hunting state of mind. The best way to beat T at their pathetic little game is to not play. In fact, everyone should accept the offer, stay on your current job as long as it takes to secure a new one, then just quit. I'd give no more than one-week notice, though just not showing up the day after you have a new offer in writing is a more poetically justified option.

Treat T the way they treat you: lie to them, scam them, and ultimately bail on them without any courtesy or consideration. It's the most they deserve.

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Another stankey log flushed down the AT&T sewer pipes - LETTERS!

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