My dear friend just called and said she was laid off. She's in her young 30s and makes a very small salary. It's very sad. She's super smart and super hard working...she'll find something new and better soon. But the lay-off notices are coming out. How's everyone doing?
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Fed 22 will see big hits in various orgs' 3rd Qtr will be next with about 25% in most groups. Cuts will be up to 3rd level. Consolidation in AM's. Big outsourcing to vendors where possible and move to overseas centers to cut costs. Once most centers in US are closed then the move to dump wireline and U-Verse will be easier. My VP said he's looking before the cuts to avoid getting cut. He's looking in the mobility area.
ENPS...when you log in you acknowledge you are on their network and waive your privacy.
Now, how could it be anonymous boys and girls? MAC address, att uid, plus they paid for the alleged anonymous survey! Never filed one....makes no difference. It is all theirs....
Head down and keep your mouth shut...when i was told this some years ago I thought it was perfect for seat warmers and job clingers.
But its actually PERFECT advice if you don't want to lose your job. Being passionate about your work can make enemies that could harm your career with group thinkers.
Seeing some great advice here. Parts of ATO are extremely toxic. And ALOT of bad behavior is coming from people who are relatively new (3 years or less FTE). I had a former Director (who was threatened to be demoted before he got out early and made some disgruntled surplus decisions) and left his personality disordered minion - who falsifies production, oversells forecast numbers and then states how "unprecedented" and "complicated" the project is - when their numbers fall seriously short month over month. From the beginning, I challenged this person to stop over reaching with forecast projections and alienating whole groups of people after they challenge forecast projections that are unvetted and don't make sense and puts the company at risk for a regulatory audit. Luckily, I have a VERY supportive manager who inherited the above mess just a few months ago and is starting to uncover somethings at least a half a dozen people warned her about.
The good news (yes, there's good news). Is that as someone else wrote outside of telecom the market is pretty strong. And those affected I believe will have an advantage to secure good jobs before things start to REALLY spiral out of control for the big "T". I also look forward to working in an environment where sabotage, retaliation, bad behavior like hanging up on conference calls, strong arming people who don't agree and - is NOT the NORM and frowned upon.
I believe all the people whove come back to this board after saying the grass IS GREENER on the other side. I personally look forward to not having to constantly wonder if im next every couple of months.
Wondering about life outside AT&T, as I read some of the comments, i can see the fear and frustration that many have expressed about an uncertain career, sometimes walking away is the only way to win at AT&T, Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who have proven that they are committed to misunderstanding you, in Most segments, the toxic work environment, lack of good managers, and the workforce of the future ruse, have created An anticompetitive work environment for career growth and opportunities. What is next for you?
As one might have anticipated following the questionable merger, the company is now cutting expenses. That means downsizing, headcount reduction, layoffs, whatever you want to call it. It is not yet clear how extensive the event is, nor which departments have been most affected. But since the company is for the stock holders, 2016 does not look good for AT&T's balance sheet.I doubt they will be telling us anything officially.
Good luck to all those affected, whether directly or indirectly. The good news is that despite the difficult job market overall, the non-telecommunications and other internet infrastructure sectors are pretty steady, and there are companies out there hiring. The bad news is that there will inevitably be others hitting the job markets over the next few quarters from the massive telecom technological bubble.
The CEO doesn't know how to make money with these assets, he just spends, in emerging, volatile markets, hoping to gain market share, Actually, the simplest explanation for the current situation is that he knows it now, and is cleaning things up for a sale ( unofficial sources), this year, of some parts of the entity.
Keep your mouth sshut and play the game, not sense eNPS, BS
They're laying off young people left and right. There's no sense to be had. It's a terrible company.
funny that they are hiring for project managers asking for young people new to AT&T in Atlanta
I have been told eNPS is associated with your name and they know exactly who is saying what. I've gotten into enough trouble for remarks I've made where I definitely believe it.
I posted a long thing with advice for the newly laid off and it looks like it was deleted. I'm bummed about that because I really tried putting good advice in.
Well, they do not associate eNPS with a name, so I guess it is anonymous in that way. I do see how on a small team, it is easy to figure out who is who, especially if you voiced those complaints with your manager in the past. They probably shouldn't send the results to your direct manager, it should skip a couple of levels.
I guess I'm lucky to have a manager that sees the need for change as much as I do. It is disheartening to see that people have had punitive action taken against them for eNPS comments.
Just another thing the company is screwing up.
sorry meant "DETRACTOR" ....distractor probably also works too. lol
Agreed NPS is NOT annon, esp., if you're on a smaller team. And they even group less than stellar comments as "distractors" They've already decided where those comments go, which is IGNORED. I've also had managers SUGGEST what to write, like "that sort of thing should go on the NPS". or " Im not sure if thats a battle worth fighting" (which equals DONT put that on the NPS).
I also don't think KNOWING which team or subteam was affected more than the others is valuable. Its just being nosey, esp, if you weren't affected.
eNPS isn't anonymous. I got in trouble several times for saying things in mine that were less than complimentary. One time my manager told me exactly what to write and she got so angry when I wrote something different. I was a L2 lead engineer.
I have been reading this blog for about 2 months now, my question is: For the ones that have been through the layoffs and shuttered centers. Do you think All of AT&T will move most or all their business and centers to Europe?
ATO continues the practice of cutting the people that actually do the work, is amazing to see how area managers, durevtirs, etc that have contributed to create a toxic working environment, are still employed!
Notifications were delivered by Area Manager VIA PHONE (or direct manager so it could have been an Area Manager's Director or even a Director's AVP).
THEN...they release a form email letter that goes over the steps etc.
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This is IPMO (Program/Project Management)/ATO - under Mo Katibeh and Scott Mair (SVP). M1, M2, M3's are all affected. 20-25%. Cut. Some teams within the org a little larger cut some others smaller cuts.
Managers?techs? Twos? Please let us know
How were the notifications delivered?
after a surplus, he company does not longer need you, getting a new position? It is not longer an option at AT&T, if you enjoy working there, but if the opportunities aren't created for you, leave. Your future employer would love to know how much you value yourself and your skill set locating new opportunities, it is all about value!!!
At AT&T , those who stay in the same position for five or more years– Job clingers get paid much less over their career than those who leave the company, fortunately AT&T has a bad reputation, and hiring managers and recruiters know that.
FyXS8Zb-gbk, why would you fear of naming the group who got hit hard by layoffs? Surely there is no VP that has less than a few hundred people reporting to them. If you think you are the lone malcontent, you aren't and will be surprised how far up the chain the misery goes.
My last VP (under Hargrove in ATS), constantly echoed frustration that he was just middle management and had zero actual power. It is the same stuff that folks say on the front lines. The whole point of this site is that it is anonymous and folks can be forthright with information.
This is one of the reasons that eNPS always comes up roses; people are afraid to speak up there too; but it is anonymous, my boss has confirmed it. The only thing that can tip you off is a predictable writing style. And no one cares enough to spend time analyzing word usage in a witch hunt for some nasty words in an eNPS survey. I've told Randall where to stick it in every eNPS survey for the past few years, and I'm still around.
For those who landed on your their feet after surplus outside of the company...what do you say in interviews re: the surplus? do you divulge at all? Looking for better opportunity? Does disclosing being "laid off" pose too much stigma in the process?
I know this is a stupid question but haven't interviewed in a LONG time.
Our Group got hit too, apparently a little harder than 22% but I don't want to say exactly for fear of identifying the exact group. But we're M2's. Apparently Director and AM's were hit somewhere around 22-25% as well.
Got my letter along with a few other strong people who I NEVER in 1 million years would have thought got the letter.
I've been reading this board for a while and feel comforted in the fact of those who come back to say they landed on their feet and BETTER. Felt it was coming a few months ago and honestly hated the fact of looking over my shoulder every quarter. I'm making probably 20% less than the industry average. This is a great time to move on and get the pay I deserve. Job changes are the best way to get the significant increases.
It is a sad day. And very quiet too.
Yes today was the day for the surplus notifications in the TP&E organization (VP Mo Katibeh). A lot of good people notified today (22% at M2 level).
No updates here, Denver ATT SSO, all quiet