I- don't believe in mergers: whenever two companies combine, to cut costs, get access to really good people or products, or just like AT&T, to reduce competition by 'eating' a competitor like the DTV deal, (this can be illegal but unfortunately was approved by our justice Department ), The next step will be losing your job, higher pay grades get cut first, regardless of tthe "accomplishments", Many times the whole rationale for the combination is to reduce costs by taking advantage of tax rules which will benefit companies hiring new cheaper employees, and getting rid of older workers, 1. Job elimination. One of the most common excuses used to get rid of older employees is “job elimination.” However, is AT&T's excuse number one, for what is really age discrimination. If the company is not really eliminating the job, which in too many instances i have personally see, just changing the title and putting someone younger is your former position, and ofcouse The Suddenly stupid initiative, If, after years of great performance reviews, you’re getting reprimanded for things everyone does, or being nitpicked for things the company didn’t care about before, the company is gearing up for what I call the “suddenly stupid defense.” They’re building a case to get rid of you for poor performance – trying to show a “legitimate reason” other than age for firing you. If you’re being targeted for write-ups when younger employees do the same things and aren’t written up, you are on the way out, isn't pretty but is the company I work for.
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They sleep at night just fine. I imagine the same fast talking Randall does in town halls etc he does with himself and his team. He's good at the rah rah rah . At some point it will become how he copes, until the board puts a stop to it.
You're talking about AT&T in the 90's & AT&T today as if it's the same company. AT&T was bought by SBC in 2005. They just used the same name. It's a different company.
What a vicious joke AT&T has played and is playing on DIRECTV and a large number of AT&T employees. While Stephenson and Stankey don't have to worry about day to day living with salaries and stock payouts equaling tens of millions, the average worker making less than $40K is being needlessly strung along as if they could possibly get to keep their job to see the magical Jan 1, 2017 transition to the promised land. Seriously, how do these guys sleep at night? The worst part is that we are expected to smile and talk about how great we are and team build and be engaging...blah blah blah. Hey Missoula, Tulsa, and Denver: I hope you all are looking for a new job NOW.
There is a faint whiff of the kind of empire-building that got AT&T into trouble in the 1990s, when then-CEO Michael Armstrong first built, then dismantled a $100 billion consumer cable and Internet infrastructure. Facing the popping of the Internet bubble, the fraud engulfing competitor WorldCom, and the collapse of the telecom capital markets simultaneously, Armstrong had to sell off his cable empire for half what he paid just to keep AT&T solvent., Now AT&T Acquiring Video Streaming Platform Quickplay, Stankey and his boss, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, are betting that they can capture significant chunks of the growing market for Internet delivered video and digital advertising, particularly from millennials. But they also run the risk that the markets change in ways that work against them rather than for them, if mobile revenues started shrinking quickly or cord cutting accelerates, as is happening for the last 2 quarters, interesting isn't? They already have the golden parachute, do you have one?
More than half of my team has been made redundant already, as have several other teams throughout the company. This is not due to financial reasons (we are very successful!) but there are some rumors,
I am a junior manager and yet never hear about any of these HR or senior management decisions until they actually happen, so I can understand the fears in my team and fear for my own job security as well.
And my performance is based on those who work under me. With such low morale, everyone is performing either at really low levels or adopting cut-throat attitudes. There is a lot of negativity at meetings, people argue with me and other superiors, and I just try to make sure everyone does everything right.
I fear that my own attitude is affected by all of this and that I am not bringing enough energy - though I hope that if I do well and try to show our superiors what my team is very valuable, I can somehow save us (or part of us at least).