Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

You made the right choice long term. AT&T is so toxic it eats you from the inside out! I retired late 2022 and felt like a load was lifted off my shoulders. There is life after this sh..hole!

No one cares

Surplused last July at my request. Boss classified it as a retirement (23 years). Still check here occasionally to see what’s up. While I agree with some of the comments about management, especially the Randall stuff, I must admit AT&T was pretty good to me all things considered. Worked from home most of that time, office when I had to. Reading these posts is cathartic, helps me appreciate both my time with T and now putting it behind me.

I don't know many people who would recommend T to their children or friends as a place to work.

I would recommend them for employment just to collect a paycheck. Just let them know what they're getting into so they're going in prepared.

@sdg+1qa9xA2J "Contingency planning. Two days of training to do the work someone has been doing for years."

That's truth. We were supposed to show the union guys who's boss, but instead validated the need for their skills.

Cannot believe the CEO hasn't been sent packing. He was part of Randall's posse, after all, and that's who wrecked the joint.

I come back because I need to let my bitterness out. I still drive past my old workplace to see what's happening.

Is has been 6 months since you left and yet you are coming back here to torture yourself and read all that cr..p. You are like a serial ki-ler. Going back and reliving the gruesome scene.

“ lol so you are gone six months ago and you still come to this site which is dedicated to people currently on payroll concerned about layoffs. WTF are you doing on this site?”

Not OP but It’s quite satisfactory to see that we made the right decision months later.

Sadly as another individual mentioned....with the current state of AT&T, I don't know many people who would recommend T to their children or friends as a place to work....

Current senior management, starting with Stankey is terrible....on all the important measures - employee morale, customer satisfaction, and shareholder value...he gets failing grades yet he manages to hang on earning 30M a year. Atrocious!

lol so you are gone six months ago and you still come to this site which is dedicated to people currently on payroll concerned about layoffs. WTF are you doing on this site?

Working at AT&T is like having undiagnosed cancer. You know something is wrong but you wait. People, don’t wait but run. Get healthy again. Thankful to be away from it now.

Hear hear! The only way to describe leaving T is like leaving a toxic relationship. While in it, you are always stressed and partially unhappy despite not being overworked. You suffer silently for years and decades but it pays decently so you make do and succumb to it’s toxicity.

Then by force of hand, you are surplused and have no choice. You panic and go through all sorts of emotional roller coaster. You have never been more extremely anxious about the future. You start looking for a new relationship wondering will someone ever settle for you like T did as well you settling for T.

But once you are surplused, you accept peace. The severance covers you financially so you can search for a new relationship in peace. You find happiness in other things that you were blindfolded to while in with T. You find yourself again.

Once you are whole, you are courted by others that want you instead of just putting up with you. You accept a new relationship. The new relationship treats you like a human being. You realize all the time and stress you wasted with T. Sure it’s a little more work but you feel like an equal and the trade off is worth it.

“ there are other companies out there in the same field that actually know how to run a business properly and care for their people.”
Look at the T-Mob and Verizon sites. Same discussions just not as many. Verizon got rid of most of their wireline west of the Mississippi and T-Mob doesn’t really play in this space.

As a craft technician:

Threatened with layoffs every three to six months for over 25 years.

Yup. Affects us too but at least there's rules and conditions about it.

Being part of classic T the upper management didn't know or even care what your work was or what contributions you made to the company.

Classic T upper management ran the company into the ground allowing for SBC to purchase them. A mistake was keeping those same upper management teams around and even adopting a lot of the same policies. We often asked: Who bought who?

Working with equipment that was over 25 years old.

Nothing new here. Old TDM equipment still is use for government contracts just won't go away until they're ready to switch.

Training by external vendors for new skills was ended and all training was done by AT&T University. How was anyone to have marketable skills after AT&T.

We don't get any vendor training either. It's all OJT or call ATS instead of proper training.

Training every year on the same d-mb compliance training that dropped at random times throughout the year. You never had time to do any other training online, even if you were allowed as a non-exempt employee. But you had to make sure your compliance training was done.

Same here. It's to cover their behinds in case something happens. If we followed compliance documents and EH&S policies there would be a lot of work left undone.

Databases that were not updated or managed.

We have to memorize or actually keep our own database because of this issue. It's a real shame.

Working at AT&T, especially in a management role, can be a tough gig. The place is steeped in old school politics and cliques, which can be pretty off-putting. They try to balance things out with diversity quotas, but it often equates to tokenism and reverse discrimination. The whole vibe there is just toxic.

A lot of the bosses don't really get it – they lack emotional intelligence and it shows. Up at the top, the big shots – the SVPs and EVPs – seem more concerned with hanging onto their perks and retirement plans than actually doing something meaningful. And the whole issue with the Chairman and CEO roles being combined for too long? That just made accountability a joke, with the board seeming like it's just there to nod along.

Honestly, I wouldn't want my kids working there, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's got some real skills to offer. If you end up at AT&T, it feels like you're just trading your time for a paycheck. Sure, you might make some cool friends among your coworkers, but when you think about it, there are other companies out there in the same field that actually know how to run a business properly and care for their people.

#ToxicATT #PoliticsOverPeople #EmpireBuildingExecs #QuotaWithoutQuality #EQlessManagement #ProfitBeforePeople #AccountabilityAbsence #TimeForMoneyTrap #CorporateCliques #LeadershipLost #ReverseDiscrimination #Bankrupt
😠 💬☠️ 🙅 💔

Career here is a farce. It’s all smoke and mirrors until your time runs out.

I was surplussed six months ago. Here are a list of the issues I had with AT&T.

1. No cascaded goals: Upper management had no idea what the purpose of goals were as without cascaded goals there was no alignment. In the end I just made stuff up. Tip. No one beyond your manager reads your accomplishments. I received an email one day, by accident, that goals were not to be passed up to upper management. Instead they, my manager, is to make a list of who is in what basket and they would have a meeting where everyone presented their placement of individuals. They then voted on your performance placement.
2. Threatened with layoffs every three to six months for over 25 years.
3. No budget for the organization for 25 years. One time we actually ran out of money mid-year and could not even order replacement parts for failed equipment.
4. Being part of classic T the upper management didn't know or even care what your work was or what contributions you made to the company.
5. Working with equipment that was over 25 years old. Training by external vendors for new skills was ended and all training was done by AT&T University. How was anyone to have marketable skills after AT&T. Oh, AT&T University no longer exists. Good luck on finding good training.
6. Training every year on the same d-mb compliance training that dropped at random times throughout the year. You never had time to do any other training online, even if you were allowed as a non-exempt employee. But you had to make sure your compliance training was done. Then you were constantly under pressure as your work is delayed because of compliance training.
7. Contingency planning. Two days of training to do the work someone has been doing for years.
8. Outdated documentation as no one kept anything up to date.
9. Databases that were not updated or managed.

The list goes on.....

An endless stream of cigarettes and magazines. And every stop was neatly planned for phone dreg and a one man band.

What department did you work in? I have my problems with some of the management decisions and all the woke nonsense, but T has been a pretty dang good to me. I'm hoping I can make it to retirement. I do recognize that it all depends on which department you work for though. The departments in this company are like different companies. Best of luck to you.