Retired 5 years ago, good terms. Spent 39 years in I/R, Network Eng, special services. Would I recognize the place? What would be my biggest surprise? I have had no contact with T since departure.
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Use proper pronouns, if you can’t figure it out just say they, and mumble it
“ and there is a large reduction in work steps.”
Worked on a committee that was supposed to standardize processes between the regions. Basically ended up with a zillion page document. Quite a bit of it had nothing to do with technical or regulatory issues. This is the way we do it in this region so it had to be included in the M&P. Huge waste of time and resources.
Why are some of you crying like this is the first time you have seen downsizing? I have been here for almost 30 years and it started the first year of my employment and has continued ever since.
Ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
(Just gonna have to be a different man)
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
Still have a lot of copper lines/ckts related to govt agencies, military, emergency services, 911, FAA, hospitals and schools. That’s the rub on copper elimination, they may be allowed to reduce the regular businesses/customer network but it’s still a regulated service and not as easily hackable like IP by foreign entities. Some voice/data lines have been reinstalled on TDM for the govt so it’s not all going away as fast as they would like.
Until they can make communications much more secure from hacks then copper/tdm will remain. Everyday there is a data hack somewhere with the IP network.
It’s a complete sh!t show here now be glad you got out when you did. Total abuse by “leadership”
Depends on location of where you retired. Many offices have closed in the last 5 years, if you are in the Dallas area or one off the other hubs, there is activity but it's different. The vibe in the offices are changed but still relatively the same (survive the next layoff). From a culture perspective, it's all about striving the next round of reductions, whether it's due to offshore (to employees this time as opposed to contractors) or retirement of legacy products (copper based) and even if you are in new areas, losing jobs to AI. Work is being done but it's not innovative, they are rebuilding systems with the same functions for fiber and now they are back to buying companies, so that'll extend the layoff culture for quite some time.
I'm in the Arlington Heights building on the IPFlex team. It's like a old folks nursing home here.
At the tech level, things have changed by doing more with less. Special Services is mostly an enhanced Wire/Prem Tech these days, 30% traditional SSIM work and 70% I/M multi-line orders and troubles.
I/R has nearly totally integrated FT/ST work, greatly reduced crews, larger work areas covered and any copper maintenance on cables has to be approved by management. Work is more intermittent than years past as the fiber footprint grows. Micromanaging has recently returned due to management churn, inexperience , no experience and dashboard green check chasers trying to promote or chase the bonus carrot.
Network engineering/planners have been reduced, new systems are being used with much less detail and there is a large reduction in work steps. Work task’s are supposedly included in one step in most cases but metrics haven’t been adjusted to reflect it.
Leadership is the same dumpster fire that started with Whitacre, son-in law Stephenson and now his Media disaster partner-in-crime Stankey. T leadership is finally doing what they should have done over a decade ago, investing and growing the communication footprint with the latest in fiber, transport and wireless. Unfortunately the company and employees have greatly suffered and we now have less than half the employee HC than little over 5 years ago when you left. Technology has displaced a lot of positions but I attribute the majority of reductions due to leadership’s poor business decisions, offshoring, contracting, rebadging, relocation, RTO, layoffs and selling of assets during these tumultuous times.
I retired 5 years ago too and I still drive by my workplace a lot. Not that I miss the place.
Original poster here (just found this site): I remember the negativity and the buttheads. I steered clear of them. I'm simply curious if I would recognize the place
Should have stayed. Generous pension and retirement packages as boasted by current employees from an earlier posting.
Completely different company now. More like a sweatshop. Only thing keeping people here is the terrible job market, which will improve soon.
Sad.
“ They are moving away from copper maintenance. The copper customers are still being billed monthly for service but the maintenance spend has been drastically cut. The quality has been reduced.”
Are you talking about the maintenance overall or just the copper spend? With fiber there is very little maintenance unless it is cut. And if areas are in line to get fiber I doubt they are going to spend the money to rehab those facilities. Plus a lot of the remaining larger cables are basically empty.
"Get a life."
Sage advice -- of course, if you had a life you would not be here either.
Someone made the comparison to AT&T now being like a planeload of people all praying for it to crash just so the pilot would get what he deserves. I found that to be very accurate.
Get a life.
You would NOT recognize it!
They are moving away from copper maintenance. The copper customers are still being billed monthly for service but the maintenance spend has been drastically cut. The quality has been reduced.
Stay away from this site unless you want to get depressed....Remember the good times you had as they are no longer. Best to you!
Everyone hates it here. Even those that pretend they don’t.
You left when the gettin' was good.
You probably have mostly positive memories & appreciation for the company that you grew up with.
For those of use left, it's pure hate, bitterness & anger. We are getting fu---d far worse than anticipated. We are basically doing the bare minimum to collect a paycheck until we can leave too.
The lack of morals and morale.
Not missing it at all. Changes?
You must be missing T if it has been 5 years and you are here.