Thread regarding AT&T Inc. layoffs

Directv has started closing down the Work at Home Program....I was sent from att to directv in the mass layoff that occurred in may of last year. Now this year have been told that now Directv is laying off Home Agents. Thanks Att. I was really enjoying watching my daughter grow up. They site that it is for security purposes.

From the moment the merger was announce to our DTV center my thought was "good by Job, and Good by center". The fact American jobs are going over seas is the testament to a companies one focus; Profit.

What a crap company, lost at least 10 people in Denver last Friday! It's embarrassing to work for a great Directv company and have a POS company take over and screw everything up. Nobody feels safe and there is no moral in the site. AT&T just put all of us in Denver out of our misery that you've caused!

what about legacy DIRECTV sales reps? they have Area Sales Managers and directors on the indirect side in every market AT&T does. what do you think will happen with those?

ATT Indirect Side: From what I'm hearing, 40% of the RAE position is being eliminated. It seems odd that that is the only group that has an actual percentage attached to it. My thinking is 40% is the minimum being reduced and a place with the most redundancy may see as high as 66%.

They said leadership, trainings and tenure will play a role in the decision.

Leadership: DOS, which DOS is the best leader?

Tenure: ARSM which ARSM have the most Tenure

Trainings: Which RAE's have 20/20/20 trainings done or whatever market focus is. Who's going above and beyond...

First though, I think the following is happening:

RAE position is going to be focused on National Retail in the future if you are in a metropolitan, rural areas will be hybrid. So gear up your Best Buy, Walmart, Target visits and visit them early and often. Good news is if this is the case, everyone's salary will go up, but commissions will go down.

ARSM's on COR will be inheriting the Authorized Retailers side and the ARSM on indirect will inherit some COR locations. This means ARSM will be the new RAE essentially. This means increased work for them. This will probably be the most worked of the bunch.

DOS: they will do what they do. Manage.

Knowing this, I see RAE's in the out layers/rural areas safe. The rest of the RAE's will be judged against each other based off those 3 criteria listed above. Leadership, Training and Tenure. But mainly it will be trainings.

Later on in the fall or early next year, I see the RAE position being eliminated. At the same time, the ARSM headcount will rise allowing the RAE's to interview for a newly created position and the remaining RAE's let go or interview for a COR position. My recommendation would be to go to an Authorized retailer.

Overall I think some markets will see as much as 50% head counts lost. I've been around a long time, I've seen this coming for a long time and this makes business sense and the direction that ATT is trying to go this matches up with it. Let's see how this plays out!

any new news????????

People have already been selected and now are likely being vetted by HR to ensure the company isn't showing any discriminatory practices and specific race, age, sex being targeted.

It's all been said. Layoffs across the org - those leaving will know May 13, as much as 40% will be let go. Now you wait for the 13th.

been a week, anything leaking out? DIRECTV legacy people? anything?

With all the crap that AT&T and Verizon is doing, consumers are switching to TMobile and Google FI. The more consumers leave AT&T, the fast AT&T will realize how screwed up they are. Once AT&T feel it in their wallet they will make changes. Until this happens people need to look for other jobs. It will only get worse.

If I was a customer with no ties to this company, after reading a lot of this I would completely disgusted. The outsourcing overseas, the employee treatment, the repeated failed strategy and bad buys which have to be paid for with people's jobs. And executive comp. that continues to grow. In essence rewarding failure and the ability to quietly clean up messes on the backs of workers. Its horrible.

Yep, lots of shenanigans that go on with NPS. I had a 4th level purposely filter out information to a 5th level (in a special process improvement initiative FOR NPS IMPROVEMENT).

And the guy (4th level) requested the person facilitating calls and feedback to "not include" some of the comments discussed on the forum calls for leadership rollup. Because those comments should come directly to him FIRST to fix.

so yeah, these surveys can be terrible in the wrong hands.

Sorry for the typos below, typing fast on my T-Mobile phone (recently moved lines)

Re: nps survey. I've been reading management consultant studies that indicate these types of survey tools are broken, old school and flawed and if you're anonymity has to be protected to give an opinion your culture is already very ill. I've noticed on several occasions how they turn into tools to do a well meaning employee with good ideas, harm. They maybe anonymous in theory, but if you've already voiced concerns with similar or telling language, then it doesn't take a genius to identify the author. And in the wrong hands or even with a manager who is committed to keeping thungs status quote, they can be dangerous.

This is why I think the surplus should be vetted. By one step above and below and even go into an exception/Valudation process when you have performers surplused. My direct manager was shocked and wasn't included in the process. I also understand that my avp was equally perplexed. But by the time this idiot director had made the decisions (from his previous 2 month ago decision) he was replaced. And damage was done.

Re: bottom feeders. That's the surplus stigma. That it's the low performers and the lazy ones. Not always and this stigma makes it even harder to find a job using normal application process. Once you have that "s" by your name you have to rely on a championing mgr to go to bat and it may not always work, esp in my case.

My lesson was that maybe i stayed too long esp, when I figured how much companies were really willing to pay me. Ultimately it all works out in the end. I've decided to go to grad school and my essay will be a case study on surplus, culture and company performance. The lesson was bitter and also very sweet esp, regarding my compensation at a great company.

I have a manager that was reading Commennts on NPs and determining who wrote it to attempt to build a case against them. I thought this was illigal and could open AT&T to a lawsuit. NPS states that everything is confidential.

Guess it depends on your org/leaders. My last go around the people who got let go were bottom feeders.

Don't be surprised if work is outsourced to another company

Con't... And if you've made any identifiable nps comments on best/better leadership practices or spoke up directly to a director about org issues....you may want to also be aggressively looking. This last surplus saw quite a few high performers shown the door because of opinions and improvement strategies ignored/resented. But again those who are high performing won't have a problem if you start aggressively and early in your search. And the universe may even surprise you with a consolation gift (more money, better working conditions)

I hope people aren't hanging their hats on mpp ratings. Over the last 5 years with at least 6 different managers I got exceeds, excels etc , kpi, and quarterly service award. I was still hit early this year. The only redeeming thing is that high performers hit, don't have a hard time landing safely and nicely outside the org. It took me 3 weeks to get an offer of 30k +.

So don't think just because you're in the top 10% you won't be affected, esp with the recent recalibration on mpp's that took exceeds/exceels down fully meets. Only saving grace is if you really are as good as u think, another company will recognize that, woo you and pay you more.

And then you'll kick your self for ruining your earning potententisl for the last 5-7 years.

For those wondering why TLs won't be allowed to step down / go back to the phones:

There are no open CSR spots to step down to. All sites have had a hiring freeze and have been firing CSRs like crazy. No open spot means out the door.

lets say a director has a 100 person org broken out into equal departments A, B, C and needs to reduce headcount by 30%. Of those 100 people we know that likely 30 received an exceeds or far exceeds rating. If they decide department C is going away entirely yet 10 of those people received exceeds or FE, they are likely going to find a spot for them over the lower performers from Dept A and B. If you're in the Mark Collins org he basically said this in the email Friday. It's time to pick the right people to get the job done or some other crap.

they are likely negotiating all of that currently. each impacted group has got their org chart and they filling out who will go where. lets say there is Job X that is done across DTV, EG, legacy Mobility and they have determined it takes 6 people now instead of the 9 currently doing it. All things being equal, maybe it does come down to your legacy company but of those 9 there are like 1-3 who are lower performers as indicated by MPP ratings. Supervisor opinion is likely going to weigh heavy as well. In the past Directors had to stack rank their org and it wasn't good to be on the bottom

do you think a legacy AT&T employee will have the upper hand on staying on vs a legacy DTV employee for the same job?

just curious if down to me, a wireless guy and uverse guy which one stays

Old timers at AT&tvcoud not find a job at $10hourly

The slaughter is likely just beginning, and don't expect the Deathstar to be polite about it. Some groups are going to be massacred, while others may be almost untouched. Call centers are a big target, and some of the more "nuanced" jobs (those that aren't easily defined or where the people don't actually produce anything tangible) are also in the sights.

Also, middle to upper management may want to dust off their resumes.

The bloodletting is just beginning

What I don't understand is... how are they not going to let a TL step down to be an agent? They are going to give you a certain amount of time to find another job within AT&T... but not step down? that doesn't make any sense. If I want to take a pay cut that should be up to me.

Ditto on the below comment. Don't wait until ur number is up. Get networking, start seeing what's out there NOW. Then severance, bonus and ur 60 days (or less) become a buffer and a softer way to land. I'm an optimistic person by nature ...but the sky is falling at ATT. Not only that when u transition (I'm making about 20k more)..you'll see just how culturally Sick att is. It will take some adjusting. Like people looking out for you (instead of trying to knife you in the back) and solid balance of collaboration and autonomy.

You spend at least 6 weeks "getting well" from the toxicity ( which I believe can make u sick literally if unresolved and persisting)

Life outside of att is scary but after the dust settles you really get to see just how messed up things are and how this surplus envoirnment is making an already sick culture venomous, trectherous and career debilitating.

My entire department was surplussed so at&t will not hesitate to do that trust me. I would start looking for outside opportunities now. Stay a step ahead so you are driving the car. You have got to be proactive not reactive. Then the choices are yours. AT&T is an extremely toxic environment. It took me being laid off and working somewhere else to see just how toxic it is.

im a sales manager but there are also sales managers for wireless and uverse in my same area. my guess is only 1 of us will survive. we all were on a call last week saying we would know in may if we were surplussed.

re: legacy DTV sales person -- i'd guess if you put up good numbers you're a better position than a legacy person who just makes their numbers. that is 100% speculation though. did you get a notice of impending surplus in your org? they told us this was "management" impacting, not sure how sales are classified.

so as a DIRECTV legacy sales employee under the Lurie division, do you think i have no shot in keeping my job? my guess is if it comes down to me vs a legacy AT&T wireless or uverse employee, then i dont have a shot.

Never mind ...I googled it's cheap labor there, average Salary in Slovenia for a month is 1k (euro). Still cheaper in India though. Must be additional incentives on top of cheap labor.

Can someone explain the rationale behind Czech and Slovania??? Are these countries cheaper than the phillipines and India?? I noticed ibm support is still in India though, but the virtual network /hvd support is in the US.

I also remember coordinating with an Indian guy a while ago for cell site access. Yes, access to a cell (physical) was handled by a guy in another country.

We just heard it here in Boise last Friday, expect that said TLs will not even be allowed to return to the floor as agents. Cutting over 50% of all Tls. Looking at the att job openings overseas in slovakia and czech republic leads me to believe the agents will be next. goodbye American jobs, hello record profits for ATT.

Why is everyone surprised? just ...As planned

At least 3 new centers opening in Eastern Europe to handle EG customer care: Brno (Czech Republic), Kosice and Bratislava (Slovakia). Jobs all start in May.

DTV offshore job posting:

http://connect.att.jobs/cz/brno/customer-service/jobid9965043-at&t-customer-care-agent-jobs

Uverse offshore job posting:

http://connect.att.jobs/sk/bratislava/customer-service/jobid9861114-at%EF%B9%A0t-customer-care-agent-jobs

Successful candidates will be expected to start between May - July 2016

A willingness to work U.S working hours - timeframe from 14:00 to 1:00 CET

Uverse & DTV offshore job posting:

http://connect.att.jobs/sk/kosice/customer-service/jobid9968329-at%EF%B9%A0t-customer-care-agent-jobs

We’re launching a new customer care teams in Bratislava, Slovak Republic to support our innovative digital TV, internet and voice services called U-Verse and Direct TV.

Successful candidates will be expected to start between May/July/August/September 2016

well its going to happen and it will affect a ton of people, so if anyone can find out what they know that would be appreciated.

i cant wait 30 days not knowing anything

it's tough to find a job, when for a lot of people the best chance of normally getting hired is usually within your org...and it's being cut.

on our call they said performance, skills, training will play a factor of how decisions are made. directors, associate directors and area managers will probably have to stack rank their people.

they've already determined the organizational outline (think visio chart) and now just need to pick the players.

i just wonder how they decide who stays and who goes. we are on the legacy directv side and we are all very nervous. im wondering if they will cherry pick individuals or just cut a whole department? im guessing they will cut the whole department.

ive also heard that the 60 day window to find another job within AT&T is a joke and they arent any help.

this isn't about TL's going back to phone taking positions in Denver. The meetings being discussed here were letting specific orgs know they will be impacted by a surplus and expect to receive notice mid may on how it will impact you personally (if at all). If impacted you'd have 60 days to find employment within or you'd be gone after that.