What have you done lately? Bell Labs invented the Solar Cell and Transistor, they were worth their weight in gold. Everyone keeps bragging on at&t New Jersey, or Legacy T, about how wonderful they are. I disagree, what have they done in the past 20 years? Time to re-evaluate the true need for these employees. Maybe keep a small skeleton crew, but move them to Dallas. Keep close tabs on them, force them to earn their keep. I feel like these employees are living off the past laurels of BellLabs, which is a big mistake. They couldn't hold a candle to BellLabs!
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Instead of bashing on any one location, ask yourself the real question as to what ANY part of the "new" AT&T has done in the last 20 years except lose billions of dollars in unsuccessful acquisitions.
And everyone knows who to blame for those things.
“ no major inventions announced in the past 20 years at T.”
Because what do you get for it? Nothing. Pay me a royalty or give me something. You can absolutely crush it at this company, make $0 extra and go no where. Save the company millions and nothing. Same bonus as the guy watching YouTube videos all day. Yay I got an exceeds rating and 0.5% higher annual raise. Not worth it.
When will the Middletown restack project be complete? That will determine when the Bedminster/Paramus layoffs begin in earnest. They will consolidate down to one location in NJ.
Dallas invented the 5G Helmet! Oh, wait, we just gave the real helmet developers a SIM card and then took credit for the 5G helmet and keep drumming up publicity for how great we are even though again we just provided the connectivity. We should take credit for iPhone and YouTube as well.
People, employees and retirees alike, just cannot wrap their minds around $120B+ of debt. That's billion with a B! It's just seems so unrealistic, special thanks to Stephens, Stephenson, and Stankey. Please don't believe Stankey for a millisecond when he tries to blame at&t rank and file employees for the debt because they didn't execute on his M&A plan. Everyone knows he is responsible, there is no escaping that.
Interesting that there is discussion being held about the glory days of Bell Labs. Good old Bell Labs would have invented the IPhone and job security wouldn’t be a issue.
WTF! Patent revenue? Are you serious? SBC has so bound and shackled AT&T will $120 billion in debt that there will never be enough patent revenue to matter. The SBC sh-t show has pi---d away any future for science and technology. It’s over people. Bankruptcy is AT&Ts only future!
R&D are not the only employees with registered patents. I think you missed the point, no major inventions announced in the past 20 years at T. Unlike BellLabs, quite notable on invention. Think UNIX!
company history will be rewritten where all innovation and success originated at the mother hub of Dallas. Time to embrace the inevitable. #DallasBound.
If you really want to know their worth, then do some detail research on the patents from the R&D teams. See how much money each patent is making AT&T. When you get your answer, then share with other on this forum on the amount of money these teams bring into the company.
The problem is, the average joe working at at&t will not notice what these teams do because it's not broadcasted throughout AT&T. I'm not sure if the average joe would want to try to understand all that math and simulation models, and then finally proof of concepts. Without these patents, AT&T wouldn't have the constant flow of money coming in.
Please, do some research, try to understand the patents, find out how much money is flowing in from the patents, and then let us know if you still think the R&D teams should be laid-off. Perhaps, you'll have a different opinion on how important these teams are to the survival of the company.