The timing of the Surplus date may well be strategic, or the OP may be on to it... "why make it easier on employees, right? That’s not AT&T’s style."
In his blood, Randy was never T.
When T merged with SBC (‘05-‘06) we kept the T branding worldwide but SBC held the reigns. Randy was a homegrown from Southwestern Bell since his beginnings in 1982. He held many titles, then was moved over AT&T shortly before becoming T’s CEO, that was in 2007 and the rest, we know!
I came in as a programmer about the time he started his career. The AT&T I new then paid me for an honest weeks pay and I gave it to them without regret, not even a second thought. As I expanded my skills, they expanded my pay....commitment went both ways.
When Randy entered our lives, the sun went away and has yet to return.