Thread regarding Crown Castle International Corp. layoffs

@437 And that is why this Real Estate company identifying as a telecommunications company failed.

@3ay my guess is that VP believes they are qualified do that too 🤣 it’s the longest running mystery over the last 5 years, someone comes in as a Sr Manager in strategy then promoted to a Director after a month then shortly after a VP with no experience or relevance in the domain and they have treated staff under them and around them like trash but they manage up like a champ which only serves them, not the company, clients or staff. This on top of horrible decisions then the announcement they are being asked to leave, which resulted in many comments about how long it took but now we have hope, then the comeback mystery no one saw coming or understands and shortly after that the communication consultant is the VP over all of IT? How is ANY of this possible?!?!?!?

@3p2 Might as well have been, considering how big that number is on the calculator when you add it up. Probably some of the most valuable consultation provided to CCI in a very long time. Let’s see what others have to say.

@3mh were you in the clock while you typed this

This Happy Holiday season, I think it would be good to talk about the “Crown 2.0” that certain individuals have been promoting around this water cooler.

And that Crown 2.0 has RTO written all over it, potentially a blanket RTO policy for all employees.

There have been some recent posts about taking a second look and doing additional research on these layoff posts about RTO.

Let’s all take a look at this and document more so senior leadership has an opportunity to review our comments while they are enjoying the holidays, but are also gearing up for a very important 2026. Some of us old timers believe CCI will either 1. Succeed/grow or 2. be sold/acquired in the next 24-36 months, and the next 12-18 months will determine which path will be taken.

I think I speak for the overwhelming majority of our employees when I say we want Path #1. Our company and our careers are at stake and we need to be 100% more than ever now.

Documentation is important. It is vital. It is one of the main things people with ulterior motives avoid. And this layoff forum has the eyes of senior leadership plus others too, so this is a good place to document what we as CCI employees think about RTO policies for our organization.

A blanket RTO policy may be ideal for salespeople, marketers, c-level, people creating and working with customer facing content. Of course physical building staff (we have beautiful buildings!), assistants, and others who need to see each other in person to excel in their positions.

However, RTO is not for everyone. System administrators, IT Specialists, NOS, the people who run the internal systems that make this phenomenal organization operate run 24/7/365 don’t need hand shaking. What those people need is updated technology, better processes, and leaders who have been there done that.

Not only will simple google searches for RTO by position/job duties tell you this, but so will something as basic as a calculator - if you know what to add and subtract.

Pull a calculator out.

So you bring everyone back to the buildings. Great. You lose X number of people. That’s what ‘they’ wanted, to force people out so they could try to save $50M. Some people get a Amazon Gift Card for being the employee of the quarter. Good for them. Congratulations.

Have those old, dilapidated systems been replaced? We have the extra money now. Oh. How much is that gonna cost? Well who’s gonna do it? Who’s left? Who knows this? We lost a lot in February and we forced out a lot of really talented individuals that really wanted to stay but couldn’t uproot their families. That’s going to take how long? Uh oh. The auditors are here. They see compliance issues. Well there goes another $X. Now what? Oh goodness. Systems are going down. Customers are complaining. Long standing customers are leaving. Ending relationships with CCI. They want nothing to do with us anymore.

Fast forward to 2028-2029.

How much did all of that cost us? How bad did it hurt our beloved Crown? If we end up taking Path #2 above and take the M&A route, how much more would CCI be worth?

What is the number on your calculator?

@32f That "IT" VP is about as qualified as I am for being an astronaut.

@h5 what’s even funnier about what you mentioned is they made them fly to Houston and the VP of the group sat a few offices down and communicated with nobody other than a complete joke of a “TPM”.

@zb completely agree. RTO is BS being touted by a CEO that probably just hates being at home. RTO is not going to stop us from filling out 13 spreadsheets about resourcing, technology decisions made by a CFO that isn’t 1/4 as smart as he thinks he is, and a command and control VP that has spent 0 time learning anything about her teams and has no idea what she’s doing.

@1t1 At least if you weren’t in IT, you probably had a semi-stable leader and a strategy that lasted longer than a news cycle.

That department is full of people busting their as--s trying to keep things running after ignorant leadership decisions left them with broken systems, understaffed teams, and zero runway all while money gets burned on things no one asked for or needs.

Blaming an entire department for leadership failures isn’t edgy. It’s lazy. And it’s not okay

This the same IT dept that let the infamous all hands n00d leak happen. Yeah you guys so irreplaceable no one could do what you do.

@186 settle down boomer. It’s almost retirement for you and RIP. So be happy with the remaining days you have.

@1cn IT can’t do anything because the guys over in Security block so many things that are industry standard but they’re too afraid to expose their lack of knowledge to protect it

Houston has beyond the talent that is needed to be successful. The remote employee strategy has proven to be a major failure and a way for poor performers to get a pass. Out of site out mind, flying under the radar adding zero value. It’s time to return to the office and operate like a publicity traded company not a like a bunch of clowns hanging out at home taking a paycheck every two weeks. Our shareholders deserve better from us!

@1nb Reducing people to “cheaper locals who fill seats” says more about the speaker than the strategy. Companies compete on talent and execution, not zip codes. Remember when they tried to hire the roles in Houston the last time they tried this, they couldn’t find the people for Supply Chain, Finance or Accounting an many more so why do you think the can now?

@1na now the economy stinks and Remote work isn’t a thing anymore. You can replaced by some local who is cheaper and will fill a seat.

When the economy was strong, Crown aggressively recruited people (not just T) into roles that were remote and often far from any office. Many of those recruits left stable, secure jobs based on promises about the organization, strategy, and structure that simply weren’t true once they arrived. Now the narrative is that these same employees are “lazy” because they’re remote and that if they don’t return to an office or relocate, they should be terminated. That’s absurd. Performance has never been determined by a badge swipe. There are high performers and terrible performers both in-office and remote. The bigger and more consistent problem has been poor leadership, unclear strategy, and broken execution. Punishing the people who actually do the work especially those hired under false pretenses while ignoring the real issues is not leadership. It’s deflection.

"We rent towers". Spoken like another big wig that wants to d-mb everything down. Restaurants sell food but try opening a restaurant with just a menu. We maintain and operate activity at 40,000 different locations. Each has a different set of rules decided by the person that owns the land, the city it sits in, and the customers on it. That infrastructure helps move data. Data needs infrastructure too, no matter how simple you want to make it. Infrastructure ages and requires investment. The bigger you get, the more investment. "We rent towers", and you all wonder how we got here?

It is fair to critique the underfunded IT comment if you judge the last 4 years vs. the 6 before it. It's like starting save for retirement at age 60 though, you can't throw enough at it now to make up for the value of consistent investment over time with compounding interest.

@19p Hahahhahaha IT is underfunded....compared to who? Google? Nvidia?

Please, we rent towers.

The IT Dept has been a disaster led by incompetent people with grand plans that never come to fruition. At the end of the day everyone needs to be in an office. We should have zero employees working in their underwear in a Lazy Boy at home. If you want to be remote go work for another company and stop complaining. We all Look forward to all Managers and Directors returning to the office including the Remote Tower folks!

@186 Everything you have said is true, except that IT is underfunded. I work there, I've seen it. The amount of money poured into chasing technology and padding resumes is obscene. Spending a fraction of the money with a smaller more focused team would have yielded better results than the "agile journey" and "digital transformation" boondoggles.

60% of regular comments on this site are from IT. IT believes their work can be done remotely and were granted an exception after fully remote transitioned to hybrid.

There is an equal number of studies pro remote work as against. It is a cultural decision.

Things have been tough for IT. Their challenges reflect Tower's. Both are lead by weak and inexperienced leaders. Both have been underfunded for nearly 10 years as EMT and the Board dumped capital into building fiber networks. Department outsiders believe both are easy to operate so both have continuously had the flavor of the month moved into their management ranks.

The answer to both is to start over. The biggest disappointment over the last several months is neither has started. Same VPs, same Directors, less individual contributors. The OP is correct. Get rid of the majority of VPs and Directors. Pay for quality and offset with department consolidation. We don't need a Director for every business unit within each department.

@13 and @17 are some serious trolls.....

I don’t understand why employees are not embracing returning to the office. We have big beautiful offices to work out of. It’s disappointing that some of my coworkers are not excited about working together and building relationships. I hope fully remote employees will have the opportunity to relocate to offices

Face to face is crucial for business success. I volunteered to return to the office 5 days a week to support my Team and other colleagues. I wish everyone shared my willingness and enthusiasm to strengthen our business and grow collaboration.

@103 “Face to face collaboration is out edge”. Some can assume our workforce will all be in one place at some point? No? Didn’t think so.

@zb exactly and if we aren’t in the office how will we be able to work out with each other.

The guy touted working in the office, then relayed a story about being on a teams call with someone down the hall even though both of them were...in the office. He also bragged about using ChatGPT and Gemini "all day long", even though neither of them are approved by our security team. Cmon man.

The whole returning to office thing is a tool used by Crown to get employees to leave on their own before another round of layoffs. I know in my department they have not backfilled anybody that has left nor should they. It will be 5 days in the office and no remote employees at all. Current remote employees who live too far from an office will be sc--wed.

Here’s a sharp, clear comment version that reads naturally and hits the points without getting removed:

⸻

Returning to the office can help with collaboration and connection, but that’s not the real issue here. RTO doesn’t magically fix broken leadership, unclear strategy, or dysfunctional processes. Pretending it will just erodes trust and pushes more people out. Hybrid models consistently outperform forced mandates because they treat in-person time as a tool, not a cure. If leadership wants real improvement, they need to fix the root problems — not the location where the work happens.

And let’s not forget: the D&D leader already ran an in-person team “over strategy.” How did that work out? Right — only one person remains, in a role they aren’t even qualified for. So sure, let’s believe this is the brilliant plan that will suddenly fix everything… or maybe they’re expecting the same outcome.

So I’m guessing we aren’t even getting the “e-book” this year or fruit of the month club?

Blaming remote work is just a distraction from the real problem: they hired leaders who look busy instead of knowing what they’re doing. In 2025, pretending remote = lazy is flat-out ignorant. Multiple studies show workers shows productivity didn’t drop — it improved. Remote teams have higher retention. Microsoft data shows meetings up 250% and chats up 30% — people are working more, not less. The average workday is now 10% longer for those who are remote.

So when someone says “get back to the office,” what they mean “I don’t know how to manage outcomes or understand them, so I need to see bodies in chairs.”

Remote workers aren’t the issue.
Bad leadership is and everyone has told anyone who will listen in one case but EMT keeps getting played by a couple bad leaders which is suspicious, do they have dirt on someone or do they check a box because it’s not skills, experience and for damm sure not their personality.

Returning to the office will be good for collaboration and morale. What will happen to managers and directors who work from home and there is not an office in their area. Will they be required to relocate or take a severance package.
I am excited with everyone working together again! Happy Friday

The back to the office bs is because mgmt, who shouldnt be mgmt, use it as an excuse for their failures. Period the end.

@h5 the IT "leadership" was all in Houston. Real meeting of the minds there. Was probably the most productive week the individual contributors in IT have had in months.

Back to the office you go! Enjoy the hybrid while it last. You guys are going back to thr office!

You almost have to admire the efficiency it takes real talent to spend that much money flying in every IT leader for “strategy sessions” that somehow had… no strategy. No agenda, no plan, no outcomes. Just a very expensive reminder that leadership, communication, and actual direction are still on backorder.

And now the same crew is casually floating a major system replacement like it’s ordering office supplies. Meanwhile every real expert on earth says for this essential system planning alone takes 12–18 months, implementation 18–36 months, and measuring ROI another 18–48 months after that … So naturally the solution is to rush it, with no staff, no data readiness, no process alignment, and a consultant bill that’s about to hit orbit. All so someone can attach their name to a Big Shiny Transformation right after a divestment where we don’t even need this change. Truly… bold choices. Will they be here in 4-8 years and will many be serving a sentence of that to enable their bad choices? Why spend money we don’t NEED to spend?

We are watching a one-trick pony whose only trick is managing up, and somehow that keeps getting rewarded.

Clean up just below the C-suite — the “kiss-up, kick-down” layer — and suddenly the whole company might remember what competent leadership looks like.

So much debt. That 3% escalator on your agreements isn’t exciting anyone and orangic growth stinks. Only way to make more money is to cut expenses. Plus there is more competition you have private tower co offering better deals bc they don’t need to grow a dividend each year. Crown will be acquired within two years. The entire tower industry will consolidate

"We have a good bussiness and it's profitable"

Is a myth have you looked at the financial statements since they stripped out fiber? The need the cash asap from the sale to clean up there books.

No real earnings, mountain of debt, and negative equity.

It's inevitable that towers will cut head count

3 CEO's in as many years and you want to start at the top? Those vp and director positions are just a kiss a$$ fest these days.

No real leadership and it shows.