I was a young engineer (ST-2) in Planning & Design in Bedminster, NJ. My sister was a typist (TG-3) in Word Processing. My wife brought our 2 boys ages 1 & 4 to see Santa in the cafeteria, each child received a small present! Herbie the mail cart was decorated with garland, beeping away through the hallways filled with Christmas music coming from (gasp) portable radios or tape players. Everyone brought in their favorite food or drink (yes we spiked the punch) to share with our co-workers. People hugged and laughed, little to no work was done. My son sat at my desk and was mesmerized by my desk phone & all the lights! We were paid for a full day of work & at 11am we were dismissed to enjoy the day with family & friends. Call me a boomer if you want, but I will cherish those memories and the friendships I made through the years at AT&T. If you had lived it, you would agree! Merry Christmas to all.
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I was in 3rd grade.
But this was still how things were in the late 90’s before the tech bo-m burst and Y2K.
The folly isn’t over, they continue to take the golden eggs. Recently announced 40 Billion dollar give back to stock holders and execs compensation. They are trying to sell that it is better to do that than pay down debt, invest in R&D in the company. Meanwhile, they continue to offshore, contract out and layoff employees, global elitist.
Had we not spent 60 Billion on trying to be an entertainment company and buying a dying Dtv, or 4 Billion paying off T-mobile because we couldn't buy them either, T would be at the top of the world!
We could have invested half that in the towers and fiber and we Would be number one carrier for wireless and internet!
Don't forget who put us here!!
Stank was just a yes man back then when the ratty was doing all these stupid purchases putting us in last place as a communications company!!
Oh now the Stank had an epiphany and "he decided" we would go back to our roots!!!
Should have fired everyone on the board of directors for this cr-p!!!
@1edv+1w89hTAJ Christmas 1984 was AT&T Long Lines
OP thanks for the memories, I started as a TG3 in ‘84, word processor, yes! And everyone was I n the office at 8am 5 days a week. But it was great, like everyone was a big extended family. People cared. Really cared. It was so nice.
*My group has 12 employees with over 50 years. *
Management? The only employees in my group or any other I know that old are all craft. Almost all the managers I know went to college, so 50 years would make them over 70.
Christmas 84 we were Bell Atlantic, not AT&T.
Sounds like Hoffman. Better times
Casting was off on that horrible Stank clip. He should’ve played The Grinch for he has a WEALTH of lived experience being one!!!!!!!
@zco+1w89hTAJ I had a similar experience, except no loudspeaker. The Director would stop by at each cubicle, wish you a Merry Christmas, shake your hand, look you in the eye, and thank you for your hard work and dedication. And remind you to take home some cookies or doughnuts for the family, that he had brought in for everyone to enjoy.
You felt like you mattered.
Once upon a time, good men led this company.
Millennial worker here :-) Thank you for sharing your beautiful experience. I have only been with the company for 10 years but I’ve learned a lot from the senior employees. Some are like family to me. Yes, things have changed but the fact that you all adapt, learn, and grow is admirable. Regardless of the poor choices made by the irresponsible top leadership along the way. Today more than ever, we need each other and do not let them bring the worse out of you (us). Happy Holidays to all!!
It was not only half days before Christmas. There were also holiday lunches in December and picnics in summer. And in AT&T Europe, those events were often catered affairs with fillet mignon and other premium foods. Those were the days. But then again, it cost 30 cents a minute to make daytime domestic long distance call, and often 10 times more for international. Adjust it into today’s dollars LOL.
Half day on Christmas eve ended with the takeover by SBC
And then the phone companies entered a competitive environment and we could no longer set prices based on how much we spent.
Younger worker here…sounds nice.
Maybe that kind of camaraderie would make coming into the office worth it.
Too bad this company destroyed that kind of culture.
My Retirement dinner was me and three guest at a very nice steak house. So much fun and very good. My boss was not there but we worked out getting it paid for. Yes those days seem to be over. BellSouth was so much different where we were all local in the same offices and not all this WFH stuff. Much much Nicer.
I remember those days. Brought my kids in to sit on Santa's lap in the Lincroft building. Every year from 1982-2005 (I am guessing), we brought in our kids to roam about in the building (Lincroft, Red Hill, Middletown). People worked a half day and we went home by 12. As more and more bad decisions occurred (NCR, Comcast, T-Mobile, DTV, Time Warner), holidays were less celebrated. And yes, people retired in their late 50s or early 60s. I am retired now and am blessed to have their pension. Bell Labs was a wonderful but based on my previous job on Wall Street, I knew it wasn't efficient. The objective was to get promoted or to be a member of the staff, not to save money or to make money. It was weird. Happy holidays !
@gfa+1w89hTAJ wow, such anger towards OP who simply shared a happy Christmas memory.
"Your generation got yours and hosed everyone else."
Blame the management of AT&T.
Gone are those days. Some Boomer MBA decided they could save the company money by cutting those costs out of the business. Then later decided that pension plans could go away also. Your generation got yours and hosed everyone else. Thats what you all will be remembered for. Back then I hear folks retired in their 50’s, so why are you still here? The younger folks don’t know anything about that kind of life, we hear the stories, they sound wonderful and we wish we had been there. Even Gen X didn’t experience those things. All we know is we do the work that 10 or more people used to do back in those days, and for far less money (adjusted for inflation) too. Must have been really nice time to live.
I'm in sales. Even not too many years ago, the team would go out and celebrate with a lunch prior to everyone leaving for vacation. I have not had any Holiday comraderies with my team in many years. No one cares anymore and the boss sure isn't going to take any time to celebrate with us peasants. You could accomplish more collaboration with a little party or a happy hour than you ever will with 5 days in the office. In short, corporations have forgotten that we are human.
I have been here 25+ years. It was similar to what the OP describes for quite a while. Holiday Parties, summer family barbeques, etc. Haven't see any of that for 15 or more years now probably.
There is no camaraderie to speak of, nor would anyone P on their coworker if they were on fire. They would instead turn them in for an open flame violation while in the office.
Those days were fun and it was a nice place to work for quite a while. Those days are long gone though.
Good news is, there ARE still places to work like that. I see friends and family members employed with companies that generally seem to value them, and take those small steps to show it (you know... something beyond an email recycled between the CEO and 4 levels of VPs ).
To those who posted negative replies or ignorant boomer references:
Really?? That’s all you took from what the OP wrote? Seemed like a nice place to work. Maybe Stan Key is not the only reason this place has lost that touch.
Boomer here too. It was great times back then. Christmas Eve was just a party day.
My group has 12 employees with over 50 years. They still feel like the company owes them just because of length of service while less seniority are let go.
Are you still working at T 40 years later?
It was not that long ago, even under Ratty, before the reign of T E R R O R by the Stink, that this was normal!
It is all Stink's fault - the worse CEO in US history! Grinch!
Being low man on the totem pole, I had to work Christmas eve a couple of time. At Bellsouth, just after lunch, they would announce on the loud speaker for everyone to go home.
Ok, boomer.