[Headline] AT&T shrinking office footprint, calls managers back to work most of week
[from Seeking Alpha]
AT&T (NYSE:T) is shrinking into fewer core offices and tightening return-to-work policies, moves that could put pressure on some managers further from the office.
The company is consolidating a heavy footprint into nine core offices, with its two main hubs in Dallas and Atlanta, CEO John Stankey told Bloomberg in an interview.
And it will require more than 60,000 managers to show up at the office in person at least three days a week, starting in July in those two hubs, and by Labor Day in the other core offices (in Los Angeles; Seattle; Washington; San Ramon, Calif.; St. Louis; Middletown, N.J.; and Bedminster, N.J.).
Some will look to take advantage of "generous" relocation services, Stankey said: About 85% of affected people live near one of the new core offices, meaning 15% are further afield.
And “If they want to be a part of building a great culture and environment they’ll come along on these adjustments and changes. Others may decide, given the station of life they are in, that they want to move in a different direction.”
Any attrition would feed an ongoing cost cut program, and Stankey said in the interview that AT&T (T) will probably be "down 15,000 employees from last year to this year, when it's all said and done."
AT&T stock was down 1.8% at midday Tuesday in a generally lower Communications sector.