An Update on How and Where We Work
To: All U.S. managers
Since the onset of the pandemic in March of 2020, we have been through some remarkable moments that I suspect most of us never expected to experience in our life. As an organization, we were resourceful and adaptable in support of our customers and daily business. I will always remember this period with a great deal of pride for how the organization came together and kept the fundamentals of the business on track. With the pandemic behind us, every company finds itself looking at what lies ahead.
In our company, over the past 3 years, nearly 70% of management employees have experienced big changes in their work life: they’ve either just joined the company, have a new manager or have moved into a new role. This is an amazing level of change. However, with people working remotely most of the time, new managers don’t know their teams, and the teams have been challenged to work in an agile and flexible way. We are in more than 350 buildings with employees located across more than 500 metros in 50 states. This brings complexity to our work, makes it harder to simplify processes and systems for employees and customers, and introduces unnecessary costs. We are too fragmented, inefficient and struggling to fully adopt and practice our culture pillars.
We do a pretty good job of maintaining the status quo when we operate virtually. However, we aren’t as effective starting new initiatives, building new relationships, coming together around new ideas, innovating, executing agile methodologies, mentoring, and celebrating. We need to work differently, and these in-person aspects are critical.
Simply put, your leadership team believes that having our managers working in an office for the majority of their time is the way we create an effective and supportive culture and win in markets. We are ready to invest in our talent – and in top quality offices and amenities – so that together we work consistent with our values and purpose.
Where we work
We have made the decision to consolidate to Dallas, TX and Atlanta, GA as our core offices. These 2 larger offices will include most of our senior executives and managers, the business unit leaders and our cross-functional support teams. These will be well-equipped offices for collaboration, creativity and innovation. Working in these offices will provide exposure to the executive team, along with other career development opportunities.
As we look at other cities where we already have groups of employees, we’ve decided to focus on 7 additional core locations in Los Angeles, CA; San Ramon, CA; Seattle, WA; Middletown and Bedminster, NJ; Washington, D.C.; and St. Louis, MO. We will assign employees to these offices based on their workgroup and collaboration partners.
We are starting now, but we won’t complete this overnight. There will be a period of transition; details on timing and next steps are outlined below.
Customer-facing roles and operating teams (approximately 60% of AT&T managers)
It is critical that we continue to have roles and teams that work in locations that are closemo_re100% to our customers and essential to our daily operations. These workgroups are typically self-contained, purpose-built teams with fewer cross-functional dependencies and have specific career paths. This group represents the majority of our managerial team. If this describes your work and your work location, then likely you will not have any change in your location. You will hear from your manager if any changes are needed, specific to your role and work location.
Employees located outside of core offices or customer/operating locations (approximately 15% of AT&T managers)
If you are in this group, you will have a conversation with your manager about your work and where it can be done most effectively. This conversation will be driven by the job role and how work is organized in this new environment. There will be a transition period that will vary by location and organization. We want to move quickly, but there may be some transitions that extend into 2024.
Workplace designations
Roles will be designated either Office or Virtual. These designations will be determined based on your work and the outcomes your team is driving. This impacts all managers in the United States. Our goal is to get clarity on designations for everyone as soon as possible.
Office: Roles that are designated as “Office” will be expected to join their colleagues in the office for 3-5 days per week, while maintaining reasonable flexibility on hours and personal commitments outside the office.
Virtual: There are some individual contributor roles that do not require high levels of collaboration that will be designated “Virtual” and should come to the office for 1-5 days per month. We expect less than 10% of our roles to be Virtual.
If you are in Dallas, Atlanta or a customer-facing/operating location, we expect everyone to be operating within their workplace designation by no later than July 10. For others, we have started working on the transition plans, and we expect to have the remaining 7 offices ready no later than September 5 (Labor Day). You will receive updates in the coming weeks on these plans.
What’s next?
Expect to have a discussion with your manager about your workplace designation and your location. We’re ready to start investing in you—building relationships, solving customer problems and making our purpose come to life. You have heard me say that employment is a two-way street. It has to work for both the individual and the employer. It is my sincere hope that you aspire to foster and support the work environment framed in our cultural pillars and desired by your company leadership. I am confident this path will enable us to serve our customers and create a more effective and sustainable AT&T.