-ILEC’s are going away
-ILEC techs are also going away
-We are going to a Enterprise Cloud/Application model
-Heavily pushing partner and agent sales
-Lots of internal fighting in sales
-Stock split at end of May
Some of this is more than rumor, like the stock split, the rest is pretty reliable.
I think that the CLEC vs ILEC battle is about to really show it's ugly head, and really show you where WS wants to lead this company.
Doesn't take much to see how much TT's underwear are in a bunch, just look at the recent posts that he has made about the upcoming FCC battle. He should be posting the straight up facts of the FCC case and how WS could win and lose from it, on both the ILEC(win) and CLEC(lose) side of the house. Instead I feel like I'm listening to a child, cry and complain to their mommy because they aren't getting their way.
This is just one more example of why ILEC's and CLEC's should never be meshed together. They have historically been a disaster in the past, and history seems to be repeating itself. It's fine if you want to do both as a company, but for heaven's sake, don't put all your eggs in one basket and combine the two, trying to make one identity for both. Maybe there's a book on that, that he can read next time he's in the Alps.
I agree with the “rumors” and some of it is obviously confirmed. I have also heard that you are in jeopardy if you are a union worker. It’s weird they would sell off ILEC with the revenue margin it generates, I would suppose it’s to pay off debt? Many of the moves that senior management makes does not appear to prepare for sale or bankruptcy, I suppose there is a plan somewhere? Regardless,there is definitely an air of desperation at WIN right now. As far as the fighting in sales goes, even in the thinnest of markets you have Enterprise, SMB, Inside sales, Retail, Channel and even wholesale all scrapping for the same accounts and deals. The next few months will be interesting, my thoughts are if you don’t have an alternative it certainly wouldn’t hurt to look for one. I’m not one to throw in the towel, but even as leadership glosses over all of the issues or chooses not to address them, it’s hard not to be very concerned. I feel bad for those trying to muddle through the stress to keep things afloat, and the customers who are caught up in the turnover, lack of support and chaos.
Really messed up the latest comment should have read the board of directors need to wake up and realize that the managers are the reason this company is failing and NOT the Indians or front line employees...the employees are not the ones making the big $$, it is the managers that are milking this company dry...way too many layers and each layer has their own personal agenda!
Layer on top of layer...at least 7 layers of managers...unreal! Board of directors need to wake up and realize the falue has always been in the Indians, your front line...the managers are only milk8ng this company but as I said before the milk is drying up...perhaps too late? Many valuable, talented, experienced and loyal employees have either abandoned this ship or were laid off...Windstream only has left the milkers!
I would be interested to know the employee to management ratio of this company. I would wager 5 to 1 employee to manager ratio at this point...
I couldn’t agree more with automating management.
That being said I know some managers that sound like a broken record so automation would be a good thing.
Very true about managers not knowing what their employees do...most managers today work from home and are totally oblivious of what their employees actually do...as long as they are making $$$, they don’t care, just as long as they can keep milking this cow dry and believe me the milk is running out!
And the beat goes on....
Around here we've been saying for years that the company is too heavy on management. Everybody on the low end is overloaded but yet we never seem to get rid of mid level management. Orders and tickets aren't getting worked in a timely fashion and many now have so many issues cause the various people that work on them do not have the proper time to complete. Customers aren't too thrilled with us lately and many have left or are in the process of leaving because of this.
Hand writing is on the wall and the big shake up from the CLEC / ILEC ruling is coming. Way too many layers of management for the number of employees this company has. Most managers don’t even have an understanding of what the people they manage do.
Management is the BIGGEST issue in this company...for the past several years, several managers are only interested in their personal agenda....making the most money they can, it is not about improving the company and watching out for their employees. Many are concerned about their titles, VP, director, senior staff manager, staff manager, manager, supervisor...etc. Titles mean nothing when you have a failing company and a company that is in constant turmoil. Your employees are your biggest asset....your employees keep paying the price for your failed management teams! Wake the hell up, oops it’s too late!
Just had a brilliant idea... The HoT buzz word on the lips of management right now is automation... Let's automate managers. I mean what task do they do they we couldn't put into a program and cut the number of managers down by at lease 50%
If this company was truly concerned about the salary costs they would have restructured management by now. Most front line employees are either 6 to 8 layers of management from the CEO each level salaries grow grossly out of control as you go up that ladder. The middle management of this company could be completely changed out, numbers lowered, and salaries cut and we would be better off... I am talking about directors to SVPs.. I can only name a handful that have these titles and are worth a $hit... Flush them out! They are hurting you more than anything. Most of them honestly believe they have a shot to climb the ladder further. This misguided belief creates and very hostile environment. Back stabbing shadey dealings and redundancies abound! This bloated management is created by the fragmentation of groups. Which creates the "not enough Indians" vibe I have read on here too many times. As you have so much management overhead it leaves noting for the group, while if the groups shared resources you wouldn't have that feeling, and I promise you the divide between operations and engineering would be gone and $h!t would GET FIXED! Restructureing of Management should be a requirement before any further front line employees get laid off...
The Rumor I heard Windstream is now a growth company.
Yep. Even though ILEC is slowly in a decline, ILEC still has the highest margins. As long as there are people in rural America, ILECs will always be around. CLEC, while bringing in the most $$$$, also has the lowest margins by far. What, only avg around 15-16%. Why do you think TT is having a fit right now at the FCC. He's putting all his eggs in the CLEC (Cloud, App. Solutions, etc....) and could care less about ILEC. If the FCC passes this request that the other ILECs are pushing for, CLEC won't last 1-2 yrs and will be done. They will be losing money. But the ILEC, whoever owns it by then, will still be kicking.
Great more fingers in the pot, that don't have a clue what needs to be done. Pay less, but make many more dispatches to have someone show up on site that doesn't have a clue, calling someone remotely that doesn't have a clue, calling a project Manager that doesn't have a clue. I guess I will get the popcorn and enjoy the show.
Looks like you nailed all of them. Why pay people a higher rate if you can have someone else do it cheaper.
Yes, all of this has been brought up on the previous posts over the past few weeks. The stock split isn't a rumor, that is public information. Outsource as much as possible to minimize labor costs makes sense. Good for business bad for us.