Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

AT&T employees that never worked anywhere else don't understand the benefits they have. Many companies have 401k plans, but no matching. They don't provide health insurance, and vacation days are very limited or even unpaid. Try working for one of these companies making half or less than you make at T and still have a manager like you say your have now. Try working in retail or food service and see how pathetic the rewards are. Or outdoor work, climbing poles in bad weather. There is no ideal place. And you can't control what happens to you. Just keep your skills up, stay aware of opportunities within and outside the company, and be flexible when it helps. (Former T employee with 28 years.)

@1imy I don't hate the company. I loved what I did and got great reviews doing it. They drew first blood when they put me on some other job that I hated and gave what I was doing to some new hires in chicago.

I guess I reached that age and years of service to mess with and get me to leave.

I am not the suing type but it sounds like some lady in ohio is suing and apparently won because she got surplus because of her age. Had a friend who was a lawyer who was begging me to sue but I just don't want to go there and it would be a waste of time because it wouldn't change things and good old randy and johny would still do what they do play golf and surplus older employees after using them for 15 years to help build the business.

1pzr - no I would not get health care. I got in after they stopped giving that to new employees. Missed by like 2 or 3 years. so really all I was missing was the discount on the products that I probably won't buy. lol

@1imy I can see the pension not changing much in that 15 month difference but you wouldn't get ANY retirement benefits? Not even subsidized healthcare? If that's the case then sure it's great you left. No point working for a company you hate that much.

@1lut call it what you want. it would of been dumb to stay and put up with their c-ap and be treated like sub human.

Their retirement benefits are that great. I doubt I will even use their services since they are so c-appy anyway. My wireless service s---s.

My pension wasn't going to be that much more if I stayed and I obviously wasn't going to make it till 65 with the way i was being treated.

I was rotting at Att. I am now in a job that actually challenges me and my skills are doing nothing but improving.

I enjoy my work and what I am doing now and when you do that it doesn't seem like work. But going into att day in day out and being move to jobs I have no desire to do just so I can use their c-appy wireless service when I retire just didn't look like a big payoff to me.

So like I said before I left on my terms not theirs and they can stick their surplus pay and retirement benefits where the sun doesn't shine.

Why stay at a place where you are obviously not wanted instead of a place that needs you and actually invests in you and keeping your skills up to date according to the industry. Not according to some harvard certification c-ap that doesn't mean c-ap to the outside world.

@gnq I am not a quitter. The market was hot and stil is where I am and both offers I was given was more money than I was making at Att salary wise. The bonus may not be as much but my guaranteed salary was more.

I left on my terms not theirs. They can take their surplus money and put it where the sun doesn't shine as far as I am concerned.

Anonymous—-u quit when u were within 15 months of retirement? That’s just dumb.

I don't think it's so much that people have not saved toward their retirement. It's the realization that most companies no longer fully cover retirees for medical benefits and those costs alone, on average, will consume $200,000 of a person's savings over the remainder of their life time. Having great benefits as an active employee, you never realize why people are complaining about ACA. Until you are faced with it.

FWE Same is true for legacy T - no medical benefits if hired after certain month in 1997. I missed it by 3 months!

FWE Same is true for legacy T - no medical benefits if hired after certian month in 1997. I missed it by 3 months!

"My generation HAS to worry about saving for retirement..."

And what generation is that? I'm a GenXer and took the retirement savings advice when I was first hired. Maybe I was fortunate someone went over the power of compound interest with me.

Every generation had to save for retirement. People who don't save don't have my sympathy because they probably lived aboved their means.

Managers hired by Ameriech during 1997 (sorry forgot the month) will never receive benefits as Ameritech stopped offering them to persons hired after that date. You may want to check with benefits. Not wise to take the MTP as you will get nothing but 1/2 your severance.

I was just saying the OP is lucky to have that. My wife and I try to put away a nice chunk of our income for retirement. The problem is both of our parents are aging and both are getting screwed out of their pensions. Her parents voted to put raises into pensions for years and now it’s going broke before they can collect.

My generation HAS to worry about saving for retirement while trying to figure out how to plan for care of our parents and save for outrageous education costs for our children. All while hoping the market doesn’t take a sh-- and swallow a chunk of our savings. It’s not as simple as save your money.

Save for your own retirement. Use 401k. Use Roth or Pre Tax contributions. ATT matches these so there is no reason not to do so.

"At least you will see some sort of retirement. The younger workers like myself have virtually no retirement benefits"

Yeah, those of us 5-10 years away from retirement are going to get screwed too. I'm glad I've been contributing to my 401K and IRA and living below my earnings.

I’d like to stick it out as long as possible but the fact is this company is starting to take my health and that angers me.

And apparently it is next to impossible to get disability here. If you read through the SPD for the disability it’s a joke. One more reason I feel

So powerless working here. 12 hour days- Constant demands for more training, weekends and more more more. Less time to take care of my health and forget about my family. So sick of all this sh--!!!!

Me and the T have a mutual understanding. I don’t want to be here, and they don’t want me here. It’s a disfunctional relationship to be sure. But it’s the best we can do I guess.

what I don't understand is why people won't save for their own retirement. I mean its great if a company would reward us for hard work, however what's wrong with taking your own future in your own hands and start putting away money early? don't tell me you don't make enough, I know there are at least one company that for 10 bucks will give you access to the entire world stock and bond market. plus there are ways to save and have your savings grow tax deferred and you can get to the earnings tax free without penalty before 59.5. there is NO excuse. get off your duff and start NOW. quit blaming companies like ATT for YOU not saving for YOUR retirement.

At least you will see some sort of retirement. The younger workers like myself have virtually no retirement benefits and must of us probably won’t make it to 10 years before we are surplused and stuck working at some other job with no retirement benefits.

I have seen many older people get funneled to dead end support type positions in IT as they age and eventually sent to the exits. age discrimination is real here and it is planned.

#ofi, I feel your pain. I too was treated very badly the last couple years. I had a long career with T with Exceeds ratings until I was placed into a group due to re-org and they started giving my work away to others which impacted my goals and objectives and would try to point the finger at me when other people screwed up work normally handled by me. I felt like I was being framed so they could fire me. I could not believe this was happening to me. It is not you, it is not me. T is doing this to many of the employees they targeted early to remove from payroll to drive them to quit. I am not a quitter they had to force me out by surplussing me.

I am eligible for rule of 75 but won't be getting subsidised medical benefits. I would retire but can't afford to without the medical benefits. I get a discount on my phones and DVT. That is a hellava benefit for 30+ years. It certainly is not One AT&T when it comes to benefits.

SHANKAR Are you drinking again?

Good Luck and i hope you can achieve what you want to accomplish.

I was about 15 months from meeting the retirement rule of 75.

I couldn't take it any more and the mo--n manager I had my last two years.

They took me off the stuff I love to do and gave it to new hires. I always had good reviews and always had at least meets and/or exceeds on my reviews.

Then my manager called me on the average of about two to three times a week I guess to get a location status on my cell phone to see where I was located during work hours.

I put my resume out and had two offers on the first two I sent out.

I kept my skills up to date according to the industry not according to Att certification. I couldn't be happier. I am back to doing what I love and I actually have people I talk to in the office. The office isn't a funeral parlour.

I don't know what I did and nobody would tell me why they treated me so bad the last two years I was there. They would constantly move me without asking me anything and took me off the stuff I love.

But Att innovation is putting shell scripts on shared storage so they can run on every server.

oooh such innovation.

They target people when you get close to the 75 rule I guess to see if you will leave or not.

I refuse to be treated like a pre-schooler when i gave them no reason to treat me that way.

I guess i didn't play golf with the right people or something. There are people still there that couldn't get certified on the stuff that they were supposed to be "Leaders".

Their definition of a leader is to imitate George W Bush and never admit you make a mistake. If you can do that you are going places at Att. What a joke.