Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

The smarter employees are the ones that will relocate. These decisions regarding relocating teams are signed off the by the Board of Directors.

This is what will go down. Yes it will be a struggle and yes the company will suffer.

However, time moves very fast and in 2 years or less it will be all be a distant memory.

If you are 50+ the countdown has started i.e you can not afford to not be unemployed for extended periods of time. It is best to take the relocation. You do not have to sell the house you could rent an apartment at the new location. Then pivot back at retirement. You have options.

“If we lose 15 in our org, the company be d a m n e d , because new hires won't be able just to pick up and do what we do without months, if not a year, of training and shadowing.”

Amy replacements will easily be up to speed within 30 days if directors have ensured proper documentation is in place and teams are cross trained. It is a failure of the director if it takes a year for a department function to be picked back up. In most cases, there will not be a 1 for 1 headcount match. Remaining employees will be expected to do more.

The smarter employees are the ones not relocating.

Just provide bonuses and raises to those that RTO over the next few years and those that refused to RTO will gently walk away and be easily replaced.

OP, you never said if anyone received a letter to relocate. If any letters were sent, why was the pole needed, wouldn’t the recipients have given their intention to move / not move by now?

“I see this and variations on it often. What do you mean by this? Your pension, if you have one, is yours. You don’t need to hit MR 75 or anything to get your pension. Understood that some of them have milestones and value may increase at those. Not many are also “cash balance” types that just are what they are.”

I and others have posted this numerous times here but for some of us (Legacy SBC and others) the lump sum payout nearly triples the day we hit 75. So it’s not about getting the pension it’s about getting the much larger amount we get upon hitting MR75. Not sure why such a difficult concept for some here.

"Take responsibility for your own failure to plan for yourself and your family"

Truth in this. AT&T was a very different company 26 years ago. We failed to realize at the time that loyalty/integrity was a one way street. Many of that era backed the wrong horse and we have to own it. If only we had known then what we know now.

This will not be the end of AT&T. Their vision of the future may not include you and I. It is what it is. Wait and see, or make plans now to leave. If you are bi--hing about this company in an online forum, and you are still working for this company then you have no alternate options available to you, Just acknowledge it. Take responsibility for your own failure to plan for yourself and your family. No other drama needed.

"People on the level to make these decisions can't think like regular people. They have so much money that there are no obstacles in life. They can't truly understand how someone wouldn't be able to uproot their lives/family in this market for a job that might go away anyway."

100%. And they have a golden parachute, so they don't even have the worry about "Why would I move when my job isn't secure?"

I can tell you that my org is already back in the office, and while I'm there four or five days a week, most of my peers are coming in one to two. I've asked a few of them about it and they said "I'm not doing it. They can fire me."

“ just trying to hang on to get the pension..”

I see this and variations on it often. What do you mean by this? Your pension, if you have one, is yours. You don’t need to hit MR 75 or anything to get your pension. Understood that some of them have milestones and value may increase at those. Not many are also “cash balance” types that just are what they are.

If that many people leave, your Director will be looking for a new job next!

Sad, but true. Span of control. Unless there is even more consolidation.

The company and C-Suite did it to themselves!

"A bunch of those 8 that said they would move probably won’t. I have heard many folks say they will agree to stay and move , while buying time and looking for another job. Since the job market is not great right now, guarantee a paycheck / health insurance, until u find something else."

They want to give up severance to stay?

T doesn’t want to pay anyone $150k yr, when it can be outsourced for $75k with no overhead benefit costs…simple. This is the real story here.

“ once the herd has been culled”

Tool bag of the week statement

I think span of control for both directors and AMs is 12. I'm sure it will go up to 14 or 15 once the herd has been culled

A bunch of those 8 that said they would move probably won’t. I have heard many folks say they will agree to stay and move , while buying time and looking for another job. Since the job market is not great right now, guarantee a paycheck / health insurance, until u find something else.

Good!!! More jobs for folks that are already located in Dallas.

Your director only has 35 people in his org? They may want to start worrying about their job. That’s good candidate for consolidation

offloading 50% of the workload on the remaining people

Haha, good luck with that. I would refuse to take it up.

In response to:
"..You have 35 people and 34 are directors,..."

Where did you pull this info from (34 are directors)? Geesh, no wonder AT&T is crashing hard.

SMH (Shaking My Head).

You have 35 people and 34 are directors, that leaves one to RTO… No wonder the customer complaints are increasing. Hey Stanky!

NO one should uproot their lives and family for this company. Unless you just want to move to that city. Moving absolutely will NOT guarantee future employment, and do not kid yourself. No one is protected regardless of moving for the sake of RTO. This plan was created to reduce headcount, and the rest is smoke that could have been accomplished without the hub structure. Even people already in hub locations that are high performers have been cut as this company rips out critical work functions without knowing what is really needed or who is really working, all due to incompetent second level managers and directors, and outright age discrimination.

I’m not surprised is the least. But tye real question is; why is your director just now at this stage of RTO? This “poll”should have been done months back. Sounds like more great T “management”.

T doesn’t care if you stay or go, feel free to protest but be careful if you aren’t actually willing to forfeit your job in the name of principle here. Again, whether RTO is valid or not, it’s being done as a quiet force reduction exercise.

Similar call for us, except I work with some hardcore dedicated types. On the call they said they would RTO; however, behind the scenes they were saying they won’t relo. Most are close to rule of 75 and just trying to hang on to get the pension. All the younger folks aren’t on pension plans and are bailing out pretty fast. We already lost some with others with a foot out the door.

"It’s cute how everyone thinks they’re so crucial that the company will close up without them."

I think they know this is going to happen and are counting on it. They can hire Indians to do the job at a fraction of the price. Sure, the quality of the work su-ks, but compared to having a good product versus a cr-ppy one, leadership doesn't care. Stankey doesn't even talk to the underlings in the US. You think he will do so to anyone in India. LOL!

If you said you would move and then you don’t you have messed your self up financially and otherwise. You worked six months for free. Unless you do not have much service.

People on the level to make these decisions can't think like regular people. They have so much money that there are no obstacles in life. They can't truly understand how someone wouldn't be able to uproot their lives/family in this market for a job that might go away anyway.

In my group, people that have are designated as FTO (full time occupancy) and are in other non Atlanta or Dallas locations, have been told their last days in office are early November (Jeremy Legg org). They are not given an option, I know of three of them that have decided they are not moving, and are put on surplus. Make no mistake, that is exactly what the company wants. It is a tough choice for those people to make but the company doesn't care.

You have 35 people and that includes a director and 2 associate directors? That explains a lot about why this happening.

I’ve spoken with 2 people that were given the option of moving to Atlanta or Dallas by q3 next year or being layer off between q1 and q3 next year. They both told t they will move and they both told me they have no intention of moving

It’s cute how everyone thinks they’re so crucial that the company will close up without them.

I’ll be applying for an AT&T remote job after they get rid of you. I’d rather drink my own coffee anyway.

Your level 3 and another level 3 will merge teams, one of them will be gone via rock paper scissors or another arbitrary decision-making strategy, and the team will be back with half the original number of people doing double or triple the work. That is the end game.

The direct consequences of this will end AT&T as we know it; many teams that deal with government compliance in certain areas are going to be affected by this, teams that deal with data compliance and leaks will be affected, and when those teams are overworked, and we fail an audit or have a data leak affecting customers, and we are paying millions of dollars in fines they will wonder why specific teams had so much staff, and that cutting them in half is a really bad idea. But Hey, they are saving the company money in the short team, and all hail Stanky and his glorious directive!