Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

An Illustration of Incompetence

Let's take a look at the last month here, shall we?

First there was the announcement that the current CEO would be retiring after leading the company into record debt and astounding underperformance. During his tenure the company bought DIRECTV - the premier linear tv service in the nation - and destroyed it. They also bought Warner Media, and quickly saw an exodus of their top programming talent, particularly from HBO. As a reward for his sub-standard work, the CEO was handed a very generous severance, and a guaranteed pension of almost $250K per month for life.

Next, there was a ton of hype about the launch of HBO Max, with our handsome and charismatic CEO-in-waiting commenting that since he knows more about television than anyone, only an id–t wouldn't accept this service, despite it costing more than any other streaming service and not being available on two of the largest streaming platforms (Roku and Amazon). On top of that, it turns out that customers are confused by the service (what about HBO Go? Or HBO Now?), and the actual interface is clumsy and lame. The release is a dud, consumers are unimpressed, and reviews are horrible.

Very shortly after this "game changing" release, the second in command uses an "all hands" video meeting to tell employees that there will be substantial layoffs very soon, and that there will not be plans to re-hire in different positions. He says this with a smile, and a gleeful expression - since he knows he won't be affected. He also mentions that more information will come soon.

Two weeks after this announcement, there has been absolutely no follow-up between senior management and the workers about this, and no new information. This leaves employees nervous, worried, stressed out, frightened, and angry. Morale, which was already low (because of screwups like HBO Max) plummets. People don't care about their work and instead are sending out their resumes.

Honestly, it's like some business school has infiltrated AT&T to use it as an example of incompetence and greed. I mean, Dunder Mifflin was better managed than we are.

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| 2471 views | | 12 replies (last June 12, 2020) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+15ocYIdz

12 replies (most recent on top)

I always think about AT&T as a government of a small corrupt country. Such a situation just reflects such that. See, do you really think that Randall just got 250k per month of pension? Think about the "gifts" he got buying DTV and TW... Again, up-management are just politicians playing with us, the peons. I almost vomit when getting these emails about inclusion, community, etc. This management just despises us, and these communications are just and pure hypocrisy. Unfortunately, nowadays, the USA (and other countries to be fair) is a pool of hypocrisy, which is very sad given the history of this country.

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Post ID: @2pql+15ocYIdz

Unfortunately saw this coming when they bought DIRECTV, and I watched them destroy a great brand.

Really unbelievable to watch this circus unfold.

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Post ID: @2jzh+15ocYIdz

OP is right. It has been failure after failure on product launches. People hated on Randy and his failures, well, now we have a new chief and he’s going to make Randy look good. If you think Randy was bad, Stank man said hold my beer.

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Post ID: @1fxg+15ocYIdz

When Stephenson took over as CEO, T was tied with current leader VZ for market share. Now they're far behind. They bought DTV and then Time Warner trying to find a profitable alternative to the wireless business when it became clear they didn't have the management skills/talent to achieve a leadership position on their own, and they couldn't buy their way into it via the TMO acquisition. This incompetence was evident as far back as 2007 with the initial iPhone launch. Does anyone remember the disastrous network performance that followed? And who was responsible for managing the network at that time? That's right, the new CEO. The network didn't improve until he was finally replaced by John Donovan. Problems with the wireless business started when SBC management began to assert direct control over it, and the pattern has been repeated with DTV and now TW. If they couldn't manage their wireless business successfully, why would anyone expect the same clowns to do any better running businesses they know even less about? Buying DTV and then TW was actually an admission of their failure in the wireless business, and now the apparently large layoffs that are coming are an admission that their venture into the entertainment business is yet another failure.

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Post ID: @1tax+15ocYIdz

The core techs were told to start charging customers 99 dollars for just about everything , we will have a software program monitoring whether we have charged enough. In some cases we are to charge 99 dollars for the call out and another 99 dollars for the work. Customers already hate ATT and take it out on the techs doing repairs, this will not help !

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Post ID: @1wjm+15ocYIdz

With Wally Walrus at the helm, I don't see the company doing any better unfortunately.

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Post ID: @1rzx+15ocYIdz

Couldn't have said it any better myself. AT&T has always been a follower, never a leader. Innovation, nah, never heard of it....

I'm sad to be part of this sinking ship, and will milk it for as long as I can. I'm sure most of us think the same.

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Post ID: @1rie+15ocYIdz

You forget about the t-Mobile debacle and I guess AT&T TV is already forgotten about like murder hornets.

Then you can go on about all the bad South American deals and Mexico.

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Post ID: @1lhj+15ocYIdz

Well said it was almost randy had a totally different plan than what came out of his mouth.

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Post ID: @1bsc+15ocYIdz

LOL!

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Post ID: @1skc+15ocYIdz

299,999,900 people in the USA have low IQ. The remaining 100 people subscribe to HBOMax.

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Post ID: @1aon+15ocYIdz
  • and your higher up's want to talk with you, do a deep dive and figure out why eNPS scores are so low.
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Post ID: @ilv+15ocYIdz

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