Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

Ma Bell(AT&T Long Lines) hired me in 1979 and starting that very day throughout my entire career of 37 years, I heard the word " layoff". Bob Allen, CEO who retired in 1997, was responsible for over 50,000 layoffs. He almost broke the company, laying off from " the bottom up". K–led the worker bees while the queen bees kept on packing in their fat paychecks. Hourly employees used to say that the real meaning of AT&T was "Allen and Two Technicians". Move forward... Randall Stephenson is a disgrace and should be ashamed of himself for ruining the lives of so many people through continued layoffs, while stuffing his own bank accounts. If you question this statement, look at the facts. Stephenson is retiring with a fat pension of $274,000 a month FOR LIFE...MONTH not year. What has he done ? AT&T is in enormous debt and STILL trying to increase stock value by what??By laying off employees. How long will this go on?

" the uncertainty of layoffs and surpluses was a good way to keep us on our toes and make sure we were doing our best "

and then after doing your best you still get cut.

on the flip side, you work your a$$ off the whole time, do not get a good raise or promotion out of it, then you get a new director and it is always the same excuse "well i have not worked with you too much so I can't really give you more than the standard .08 percent.

Then you either get re-orgged next year again or cut because you fell into the bottom 10 pct since they put you there in the first place to set you up for a future cut so they could protect their own.

You know how it works because your ranking will fall with the new boss, and you know the young kid getting all the awards is car pooling with your new boss and exchanging recipes.

so toxic here.

re–org is to make sure they don't surplus any of their old dorm room roommates.

You bring up a a few good points. Its cleared by now that the re-orgs are there to improve procedures is just an excuse. Its more of a shuffling to make sure every group is re-balanced. If a VP lots 3 of its assigned groups then the re-shuffle will balanced that and keep size consistency across the board.

This becomes apparent when you keep hearing the same message out of your own leadership that it will benefit your group and next month you end up with a different org.

In a recent town hall one of the "leaders" mentioned that the uncertainty of layoffs and surpluses was a good way to keep us on our toes and make sure we were doing our best or Stankey implying that nobody is safe in the company. But if you look at videos and descriptions of true Leadership they do the opposite. They bring stability and safety; this is creating a toxic "leadership" culture within ATT. that now perceives self-destruction as the cure.