I'm leaving soon so I'm a little nostalgic. I feel sorry for the people who have been here for a short time and who do not remember the times when this company had some integrity. I feel sorry for them because it seems to me that they are the ones who more easily accept the atmosphere that is here now, than those of us who know that everything used to be much better.
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I would say the past 20 or 25 years has been the best, as far as being the easiest. In the mid nineties the company announced they were changing strategy and would never again educate and train people like they had for the previous 70 or so years. And they completely followed through with that.
Since then it has gotten easier and easier, less and less responsibility. No one is trained in the business anymore. No one is responsible for anything anymore. I doubt anyone, with the exception of outside employees that actually go to customers locations, realize or understand that we are in business to provide reliable service to the customers who devotedly pay their bill each and every month, rain or shine, good times or bad...
I really do not know a single person hired after '95 that has any understanding of their place or effect in the overall business, most don't even understand their individual job completely and none can see past their little spreadsheet or list of assignments that day. They strut around not having a clue of why they are doing their little individual portion of the job other than, that is what I was told to click.
The company is far worse, the service is far worse, nothing is required or expected of you compared to the 70's or 80's, there is no reason for any pride in the company, but it is so much easier now ........
started in 1991 in the wireless division under BellSouth. those were awesome years and it now reminds me a little of how it must have been working for Google or FB when they were startups. We had so much latitude to grow the business. Left after 20 years in 2013 at a level 3 and from the looks of it, got out at the right time
Up until the signing of the telecommunications act of 1996. That took the company from the telephone people running it and gave it to the Wall Street boys.
The 90's thru 2000's under Ed Whitacre when we were still SBC were the best in my opinion.
The only downside for me was the AT&T acquisition. AT&T was dying and on its last leg! We should have let it rot! I understood the branding strategy but they came in and took over - implementing the same pi-s-poor policies that were key contributors to it's own failure. There were many days when I wondered "wait did we buy AT&T or did they buy us?"!
We rebounded big time with the iPhone deal but it was downhill fast after that. After Stephenson took over it was a high speed race to the bottom and with Stankey in charge we're moving twice as fast. AT&T is succeeding at failing. #SAD
Remember when there used to be in person vendor training classes back in the day?
Definitely the regional Bell and Ameritech days, things started going downhill after SBC purchased AT&T in 2005
Today
My favorite years were from ‘80 til ‘84. I was exchange repair business and worked with a great group of guys. It was pretty good from ‘02 til ‘18 while I was a Comm Tech.
The 80's for sure. Office parties, travel, plenty of money for raises. No silly surveys or websites, no tracking of your time or work because there were no computers on everyone's desk!
SBMS>CellularOne>Cingular was the best of times for me
1992 - 2008 then It began
I hired on in 2000. It must have been before that.
94 SBMS through the Cingular days were pretty good, As soon as landline came in with "we're the phone company, we've been doing this for 100 years..." and brought that mindset and their boneheaded leadership into wireless...it all went downhill very quickly.
Best years for me were pre-divestiture thru 1999. But there were always questionable mgmt decisions. Millions were wasted chasing bad architecture and bad decisions. People who had integrity were punished by lack of promotion and by remarks on their performance record. People who acted without integrity were all promoted. The funny thing was that these folks were eventually outsourced to IBM. In the end, all that matters is your integrity. I know my career suffered because of my integrity but I don't care. I didn't play the game well enough to get promoted.
I remember when larger offices had cafeterias and most departments threw Christmas parties. (Actually for Christmas!) Hopefully more celebrations will come back throughout the year when we are back in the office since so many have recently turned back to religion!
Before the days of Ratty and most of all, the Megalomaniac Stink.
For me, it was before the dotcom crash.
I guess when I was hired (1979) I was 24 and so happy to have a decent job, I worked in the mail room in good ole Residence Business Office, honestly I had never seen anything like this, but it was the people, they just wanted to bully not sure of their problem, but I cried many days there. A lot of red necks from Tennessee and I was very shy and finally I learned how to be like them and I hate that I had to. I had two children I could never leave until finally last year.
This year. 30k raise and 100% virtual.
Prior to the RBOCs starting to merge
SBMS/SBC wireless/Cingular pre att were the good ole day. Then the greed came with att.
911 seemed to be the turning point
I’m enjoying these memories.
Really never. Sad to say the culture has always been toxic.
August 30, 2004.
The year I met the modified rule AND LEFT.
keep in mind u guys quoting old AT&T. That was a totally diff company that fell apart.
Today's AT&T has always been SBC. Nothing more.
1978 - 1996. 1A2 KTS was the workhorse of telephony. We billed for 2 wire KEL02, 25 wire KEL25, buzzers, bells, cutoff keys, outdoor bells, button switches, besides the telephones and lines. Life was good, seemed at the time things would never end, then came divestiture. Average monthly bill for small business was $85 without long distance charges. Cable TV sucked most of the small business accounts away from Bell, what a loss!
Early 2000s for me
1980 to 1995.