The older/experienced folks are being coerced into leaving the company via the changing of retirement benefits. With that change, many of our SME's will be leaving with all their knowledge. How will that affect your workgroup? My group alone will be down 3, and I'm hearing similar numbers in other groups which is concerning. No word of backfilling these positions either, as the company goal was to reduce the workforce.
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A lot. Have heard from many. I am certain there are others but just not saying anything yet.
You should probably take it. They aren't trying to "coerce" you to leave. They are removing benefits and then are going to lay you off without the benefits. They only notified you of the change cause they have to, not to make you leave. They don't care. You'll be gone either way.
If T needs headcount savings in 1Q through 3Q then very little will come from their elimination of healthcare subsidies and reduction of pension. Those impacted will stay until 4Q before leaving and many won't give prior indications they are doing so they can just coast without detection of their intentions.
Even if T is going to survey people’s intentions and they’re not because they have never done so in my 35 years with this company and they’re not about to start...it’s just not ATT’s style! They just throw the proverbial pasta against the wall and see what sticks and hope for the best! The proof is all the very bad decisions they’ve made over the last two decades, case closed!
@2uni nails it.
Especially in Mobiity, where we are now in the normal calm before the storm period, figuring out budgets etc and looking at all of the work that will need to be done in the 4th quarter this year. This work is supporting critical network initiatives around recent spectrum purchases, 5G , etc. The elephant on the room is that many of the experienced folks working on this stuff will be coasting and on their way out the door in 3Q and 4Q. It hasn’t happened yet, but I am sure in the next few weeks, employees will be surveyed as to their intentions for staying or leaving, so they can try and get a handle on the big problem now facing them.
Don’t hold your breath, legacy T Network Technical Specialists aren’t going anywhere, they’re no way in hell gonna be offered a VTP, especially when T is still hiring them in the southwest and west.
We probably have a few that will go, but none will confirm it nor talk about it openly.
The problem this presents for the company is those who are seriously considering it are critical to the success of the many projects the company wants done under an impossible timeline. Imagine you were the last one who knows anything about some obscure system in the network. Or perhaps you're the ONLY database developer who still works on a production database. Maybe you're one of two folks who knows the ins and outs of how the network functions for an entire internal network.
Once you lose these folks, you cannot replace them easily nor in a timely manner expect said replacements to be up to speed to be of any beneficial use to the company. The company is certainly going to try with their contractors and term employees. The company is also operating under the ludicrous assumption that folks they force out will simply beg to come back to work for AT&T as a contractor. ( Completely oblivious to the fact that the employee will get to dictate the price vs the company. Expertise comes at a premium after all . . . . . )
But I believe they'll learn a rather harsh lesson when things transition neither as quickly nor as smoothly as they like to believe it will.
Not only will it be a rather rough eye opener for upper level management, it will also be a very costly one as those aforementioned " impossible timelines " cease being next year and become next week.
interestingly I understand that positions in certain teams where folks retired or were surplussed at the end of 2020 are being backfilled by new hires now
I haven’t heard of any yet. I wonder if everyone from my group even realizes what the changes will be to some people’s medical if they don’t leave by the end of 2021. No one in my group discusses it.
I have reached the Rule of 75, but unfortunately that doesn’t mean anything to me since I am not eligible for the medical subsidy in the first place. So I plan to hang on another 3 years or so, unless they get rid of me first, and keep contributing to my 401k, social security, and pension (unless they stop the pensions contributions too!)
I would leave in a heartbeat, but not MR75 eligible yet for another 2 years, which is pointless now because there's no benefits left worth retiring for.
If they offer a VTP to the Leg-T Network technical specialist title a third would go.
Many. They will backfill with non-payroll workers. They do not care. We are expensive aging plant to them.
Nobody is talking yet, but I think there will be 2 or 3 in my group of 20. I know for sure there will at least one, LOL!
3 out of 17
Its no surprise folks that have been here for 10,20,30 years are ready to "cash out" , isn't it why you go to work for a large corporation ? Sure some of them would have liked to work a few more years.. as for T brain drain, don't worry there's plenty of vendors and contractors ready to fill in, even when they dont know what theyre doing
40% in my group will be gone
4 or 5 out of 11