Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

I retired September 2021. I remodeled my house and volunteered at grandkids schools for a little over a year. I started working for CenturyLink which is now Brightspeed and I absolutely love it. I can work from home, the pay is higher, health benefits are much better and the best part is that the stress level is very low because they don’t have unrealistic expectations/deadlines… I was a design engineer in Texas when I retired and am doing the same work for Brightspeed.

They became authors and podcasters (Brene Brown)

I have been here 25+ years. Many contacts and friends over that period of time that have left either voluntarily or not. I can honestly say that not a single one of them has ever expressed any regret. Not one. Some make more money, some make less.

Most of the longterm employees I have stayed in touch with or am connected to on Facebook ended up moving to different industries outside of IT/telecommunications. Almost all didn’t have relevant or current technical skills to keep working in IT. They were in a different “season of life” and became stagnant.

Posts like these can provide a false sense of hope for many employees. It's sad to say but the at&t job many have today will be the best job they will ever have. These people, try as they might, will need to settle for a lower standard of living. It didn't need to be this way but Stankey and Stephenson sealed the fate for many, with their wreckless stewardship of at&t assets.

as many of these posts show, there is a lot of upside to life after AT&T… unfortunately, most people at AT&T today seem to looking over their should a waiting for the next layoff, reorg, etc.. Stankey and co have put company in a very difficult position where they will continue to cut cost aggressively since they can’t grow revenues…a lot of the leadership should be replaced, they have destroyed shareholder value the past 5-10 years…it was once a great company that hired excellent people who were loyal and committed to the company…as these post show, company doesn’t care about its employees much any more..

I'm craft and hoping to get launched in June or Sept of this year! I no longer care about this job/company and want nothing to do with it anymore. I'll be happy to leave, but holding out for the severance package, otherwise, I'll just continue to keep working!

Left in 2021 - technically retired. Took a break, updated resume and started interviewing in 2022. Found a job a couple of months later. Job pays much more in base(> 15% more) and the total compensation is close to 40% more. Aside from that, I have a better work life balance - I can do things on the weekends without worry about getting called and having to cart my laptop around and no more middle of the night calls from offshore. I'm permanently remote now although if there was an office in my city, I'd probably work in there several days a week(I went into the office nearly every day at AT&T prior to Covid). Generally speaking, I wondered if I shouldn't have left AT&T a long time ago, but once I was within 5 years of retirement, I couldn't justify giving up the insurance subsidy and a pension hit.

My advice to anyone who will be impacted by this RTO due to their location is to start updating your resume now and applying for jobs. Actually, even if I was in Dallas or Atlanta, I'd be looking to do that too because it will be even more intolerable after the mass exodus. The market is a bit cooler than it was last year, but there are still jobs. Best of luck to all - there is definitely life after AT&T and of all the folks I knew who retired or left to go elsewhere no one has voiced a single regret.

Totally agree with the honest response here.
I was discarded last year and was devastated. Yet finding a new job and settling in gave me much time for reflection. Working for a company that appreciates and gives a damn about people was eye opening.
It took me months to actually stop comparing my new role to the sheet show I lived, and LOVED, at AT&T. Always looking over my shoulder , always getting rave reviews, raises, awards, yet never being comfortable for a second. Because it was never enough. Do more, give more, sacrifice more.
AT&T is a CULT…..period. While working there, you’re brainwashed to think you are never doing enough and you are lucky to be earning a paycheck from them. They make you feel that THEY are the only company that you deserve to work for, and scare those into thinking nothing would ever be better than the job you have.
Dozens of people I know left, and were ecstatic and told me to leave. I stayed always…..obviously too long.
There IS a life after AT&T

My story is simple.

I was with DIRECTV when we were invaded and occupied by the T-people. Pretty much everyone from DTV immediately hated our new dictators - particularly the fake texas 'aw shucks" attitude they would cosplay, while destroying the culture of the company on a day-by-day basis, and suddenly being introduced to the quarterly layoffs that defined the T-culture.

By 2020 I was the only guy in my group that still supported DIRECTV services, so I wasn't surprised when I was surplussed at the end of October.

After taking a couple of months I ended up finding a position in early 2021 with a non-profit workforce development organization here in Los Angeles dedicated to serving veterans, refugees, women, at-risk youth, and people who were looking to obtain careers with benefits and a living wage.

I had to take a 20% cut in pay (non-profits don't pay the same as private companies), but after that first week on the new job the level of toxicity and awfulness of T was completely clear.

• I no longer hate work. In fact, I enjoy it more than I ever have.
• What I do now has meaning and a direct positive impact on people and my city, rather than ensuring that an arrogant, incompetent CEO gets a bigger bonus.
• My bosses don't lie to me all the time.
• The CEO actually has to answer to our Board of Directors, and his salary isn't 500x mine (the CEO makes $375K per year, I make $80K).
• I'm not constantly being restructured and moved to different departments.
• I don't worry about layoffs (there hasn't been a single one in the organization's history).
• My work is appreciated and recognized.
• The organization isn't top-heavy with dozens of SVPs, VPs, EVPs, etc
• There aren't 10 layers of employees, just four: C-Suite, Top Execs, Directors, Staff
• No stupid townhalls where there is only lies and patronizing contempt for staff by executives
• No ridiculous emails telling us how good things are when everyone knows they are really bad.
• No endless series of pointless and meaningless "employee engagement" surveys.

There's a lot more, as well. But really, I ended up at perhaps the exact opposite of T in almost every way, and I now wake up every day grateful that I was let go in 2020 and count my blessings that I don't have to endure the constant humiliation and degradation of being a T employee, not to mention not being embarrassed any more to tell people where I work.

Long story short- left late 2020 making 30% more and treated with much more respect.
Choose your own faith and don’t let T push you around.

Most retail or b2b sales people move on to other carriers like Verizon or TMobile. Most term splicers or outside plant techs move on to contractor companies and if they learn coax can progress to hybrid office/field jobs like Walkout Tech, Field Engineer, Project Coordinator, or supervisor. After some experience at the contractor companies, they can move on to Comcast Construction & Engineering jobs.

I quit my job at at&t 4 years ago. I am now farming 1K acres, have newer tractors and equipment. Soybeans produce about 65 - 70 bushels per acre. Soybeans are selling at $14 per bushel. Total annual income on my 1K acres is $980K before tax and expenses
Much better than telephone money!
I am much happier, happiest I've ever been, FREEDOM!!!!!

I personally know of 5 people that left last year and ALL are much happier. Most are making more money and are not dealing with all this chaos at T.

Honest response here....

Left AT&T last year due to the pension hit we were going to take. I was not even close to retiring (with more than 15 years left).
Didn't have a back up plan/job lined up but I knew for sure I was not willing to lose 35-40% of my pension!

Now I'm actually pursuing my passion that has NOTHING to do with my old role at T.
The best decision I made was to leave.

I do visit this site from time to time just to see what is happening at T. It saddens me to see what has become of this company and I'm no longer second guessing my decision.

If you are skilled at something, go out and do it! You will be much happier!

Good luck.