Wednesday will mark one of the worst days I’ve lived through working at this company.. I am left to pick up the pieces now and carry on with a team all by myself.. what a absolute mess of a situation when a company chooses to instead layoff hundreds of talented hard working people instead of valuing true grit and pride for the organization.
I have worked for T-Mobile for over 20 years and today feels like my day one all over again.. not at all like my actual day one, but instead my day one of chaos and sadness, anger frustration and plain and simple confusion. I know most from the c suite won’t read this post. Although I wish they only knew how they have officially destroyed the pride of this company.. it is no longer what it ever used to be, it isn’t the “new” Tmobile, but instead it’s the sad and broken Tmobile.
I just hope those left, can find it in there heart to start to rebuilding and continue to do what they must to be brave and carry on.. this is going to be very hard to move on from.. god help us all.
25 replies (most recent on top)
I got laid off on Wednesday. I am relieved now. After 24 years of being a network ops tech, it was time. Good old days were gone now since Legere left. Was crazy during Covid times and now this. I was praying to get laid off so I can get a nice parting gift and move on to better things. I wish everyone left behind in this Sprint 2.0 company good luck! T-Mobile will never be the same....
I’m happy so many took the time to read my post and comment, a few days later and at the start of this work week and i barely slept any kind of decent rest last night.
I guess our lives will be one of struggle until we get our Barring straight again.. I hope all of you left with the org can start to be given any kind of sensible information and direction this week.
Peace and sanity be with us all 🙏
Just couldn't resist inserting your politics into this.
You just can't grasp that they say and do things just for how they appear, only thing that matters is good press and a positive cash flow.
"The SLT speaks all the politically correct language and embraces the typical left coast ideologies"
Just couldn't resist inserting your politics into this.
Sussy, "early retirement"
Oh?
The CEO said 5,000 were being laid off in September; ~7% of the entire company. Managers were NOT notified ahead of time.
Our teams were already barebones with no interns, no backfill for folks who left, etc., so they got rid of our manager, carved a few folks off every team in operations, and broke our team into so many pieces. All his managers took a little piece of our team for themselves.
"Keep doing business as usual!" we're being told, yet that's just not possible now. Morale's gone. The dividends and more stock buybacks are the reason this happened, not that folks weren't performing admirably. I wish it was easy for me to find a new job, but it's not, and I've invested so much of my life here - and generally had a very good experience overall. Since the Sprint merger, things have been on a rapid decline.
The person above who wrote it was like starting day one, it's certainly that. It's like I have a brand new job I never signed up for, have no clue how to do, and am expected to perform, but I still need to do my previous job for possibly several months until everything my team does is acquired by the new org.
My coach last year told me we are work for performance. Now my current coach has been given a write up for her teams ddc/stay connected being low. This is no fault of her own nor ours. They took the payment arrangement metric and make it count as 50% collection rate instead of 100%. They took the one metric that makes up 98% of our ddc goal and cut that percentage to goal in HALF. All of our ddcs look horrible now. We are now being told to lie to customers and over collect. If the past due is 100 and current due is 100, i put 110 or 120 in the payment arrangement and just make believe it’s all paat due so my 50% collection rate comes out to 58%, for example. Anytime we include more beyond past do it’s a higher percentage. If they are going to pay it in full, even though tjose count as 100% to goal, we MUST over collect. I took $40 payment on a past due of $36 so it would be 102%. That extra 2% helps the metric that’s been cut in half. It’s fu----g brutal. And we are the ones who get yelled at and in trouble for not meeting the same goal after the company cut those chances in half. Oh, that was also done to ensure we get less bonus pay and we are. $200 less a month now. They stole from our pockets again. The bonus on adding lines is now based off net add. Aal - cancels. Good fu----g luck making any bonus on lines now.
"your first mistake was thinking you should work at the same spot for 20 years"
Wrong
I worked for TMO for 24 years. I enjoyed my career. I saved a nice nest egg. I got ready for the eventual end by saving. I never believed the SLT when they told me they loved me. Then they laid me off. I took the severance as a nice going away present - and I retired.
Why is T-Mobile getting rid of SO many legacy T-Mobile employees? Are they changing all processes, strategies and overall business structure? I personally know people who I’d deem invaluable with intricate knowledge who were REALLY good at their jobs and who were amazing business partners. Some of this just doesn’t make sense, thoughts????
Hit them where it hurts and sell any and all stock owned and invest in something else instead.
“your first mistake was thinking you should work at the same spot for 20 years”
Edgy, I get it, I’m sure you’re a member of the anti-work sub on Reddit as well. It was far from a mistake, I had a long career that I mostly enjoyed at Voicestream/T-Mobile. I bought my house, raised my family, have a retirement. I was paid fairly, had good benefits, enjoyed the work, why wouldn’t you stay? I would do it all over again, maybe slightly less emotionally invested so I wouldn’t feel as betrayed.
your first mistake was thinking you should work at the same spot for 20 years
I am sad for those impacted by the current layoffs who did not want to go, as I'm sure most of them really enjoyed and appreciated working for Tmo. I hope this chapter of their lives is a very short chapter, as they transition to bigger and better opportunities (unless this is what they wanted, an early or timely retirement, then I hope they enjoy a very long, fun, prosperous, and enjoyable next chapter).
What I witnessed up close was a small handful of people who wanted to leave with a payout, and potentially a few people in overlap positions, that were transitioned. I'm sure a similar story holds true across the company, at all levels. However, as many of us are seeing, there also appears to be many people being transitioned who do not want to, or who are not ready to leave, and this adjustment period may be more distressing for them.
Objectively, I can get behind a business decision that reduces redundant roles, offers "early retirement", reduces personnel based on merit and value they bring to the company, etc., in order to free up funds to further invest in the company to create and sustain growth, to fix any potential financial issues, or even just to be able to survive in an unexpected, harsh economy that we are all experiencing (like trying to figure out which household expenses to cut out if your salary did not increase, but food, electricity, gas, etc. have all increased). A company has a duty to its stakeholders (its employees, customers, vendors, suppliers, investors, stockholders, local economies, etc.) to survive, be successful, and create value for those stakeholders.
However, yesterday around 1:30pm ET, before the proverbial ink even dried on many people's severance checks, the company was publicly announcing a new dividend payment on shares, beginning in Q4 of this year (~$750M), and continuing through 2024 (~$3B), along with up to ~$15B share buybacks, through 12/31/2024. That is in ADDITION to the company's previously announced $14 billion share repurchase program the Board authorized in September 2022 (shortly after the last big layoff).
"Share repurchases and any dividends [...] are expected to be made from available cash on hand and proceeds of one or more debt issuances or other borrowings..." (8-K filed on 9/6/23).
So, here is the issue: no matter the company's intent and goals with the current layoffs, the announcement (and 8-K filing) of massive expenditures directed to shareholders on the very day that potentially thousands of Tmo employees lost their jobs could appear to be heartless, and not indicative of "love" or empathy. It also potentially creates suspicion and doubt, especially when this organizational restructuring was advertised as, essentially, a way to: attract and retain customers (which is more expensive these days); meet customer demands in a climate of a highly competitive telecom market, "optimizing every dollar, so it can be used to deliver a better network, a better value and a better experience for our CUSTOMERS...", etc. One could potentially perceive the timing of the simultaneous activities to be in conflict with the company's position of "We have zero intention of being a faceless -- or heartless -- company in a situation that is already difficult."
As shareholders, I am sure we all look forward to dividend payments on our TMUS shares, as well as share buybacks that should give more equity to us, and in theory, maximize our profits. However, I would have happily conceded the ~62 cents per share (?) Q4 dividend had the company chose to wait a few months for the dust to settle before announcing the new, significant expenditures.
The optics that the highest priority is to maximize shareholder profits rather than creating value for ALL stakeholders is predictably appalling. I believe if the timing was better planned, that negative appearance could have been avoided.
Or worse, if it goes deeper than just bad timing and bad optics, I'd be curious to know if the most sophisticated of investors might sense any smoke and mirrors, but only time will tell. People do have short memories, but I believe investors less so; it wasn't long ago that Frontier pulled out all their tricks from the hat to try to continue to appease only their shareholders with their dividend payments (layoffs, Verizon acquisition, new debt, etc.), only to end up in Bankruptcy court in 2020. Lest we forget, it was the time period leading up to that very Bankruptcy (after their acquisition of Verizon) that customer service and customer experience was the absolute worst for Frontier - they bit off a bigger chunk than they could handle, and it reflected in their customer complaints and churn.
I hope that is not the destiny of this company...because I hope any perceived pattern is merely coincidence. I also hope the company can see and acknowledge its untimeliness of the announcement of the “Shareholder Return Program”, and do better going forward, if any semblance of a positive work culture is to remain.
Legacy T-Mobile had a better culture. There used to be inclusiveness, humble, and talented staff. Overtime, it became back biting, cost saving, and less concerned with stakeholders. It’s about profits while saying token phrases such as diversity and inclusion. In the last five years T-Mobile said the right stuff but did the wrong things. This layoff should be the death of the company. Mike Seivert is sinking the ship now.
"Can’t imagine working in one place for 20 years."
Back in the late 90's early 2k's when the wireless industry was booming, everyone jumped from company to company getting raises with each move etc etc. Once people found themselves employed at T-Mobile(or Voicestream or Omipoint depending on when) they generally stayed. And the reason they stayed was because of the way they were treated, the way they were compensated, etc. There was a sense of pride in knowing you've "found your home." The current T-Mobile is like when you've been going to your favorite restaurant for years but it got sold to new owners that kept the same name, kept the same menu, but changed the ingredients to a lesser quality. So yea someone may still order the chicken parm but its brought to them by someone that is just trying to make the most profit, not from someone thats really caring/take pride in what they're serving their customers.
Burn any and all company loyalty.
Can’t imagine working in one place for 20 years. I’m certainly not going to have loyalty to any company. It’s a business transaction for me too.
Sorry to those devastated and may you find something better. Just remember your next company is still just a company, just like T-Mobile.
As i was leaving my desk for good yesterday, I saw my senior manager showing my manager how to request interns on the management website, as they themselves had done recently.
I guess work still needs to be done, by cheaper people with no experience, that can't go into the bar area on Thursdays.
I woke up this morning just a few minutes ago. My buddies away from the office, heard I was laid off and took me out for dinner and drinks. We then just talked. My family called me. A number of work colleagues called, after they apparently saw the reorg and that I was gone. I woke up this morning having slept soundly for the first time in a couple of weeks. A huge weight of uncertainty has been lifted from my shoulders.
I will take this as a opportunity, as I see it a gift to me from God, to restart my life, away from the backbiting, vitriol and the lack of recognition of anything I did for the company by my leadership. Going to take a few days to just chill and then begin the process of finding a next job.
The company is in a sad spot. The talent they have eradicated cannot be replaced. How very foolish of them to think this will work. It will take a certain kind of person to keep cheerleading for them.
It's a paycheck, not a way of life. The SLT speaks all the politically correct language and embraces the typical left coast ideologies, but they all are still business people who will discard people, groups, and product lines at the drop of a hat.
I can't wait for the next Employee survey.
Not that it'll matter to anyone that gives a sh-t, but it will be cathartic to fill it out with all zeros.
I am also a 20+ year T-Mo vet that left earlier this year. The culture has been horrible for a couple years and even though I knew it was going to hit the fan eventually, this is a new low. I still took pride in what we built and to see it toppled in a day is surreal. Tons of good people thrown out, many years of a great culture washed away in one wave. This is way more than eliminating duplicate roles, this is pure corporate greed. In hindsight. this was the plan all along and Legere was complicit. It was all a facade, lies. How could anyone that is left even work there anymore? As a formerly proud ex-employee, I am disgusted with what this company has done and will be porting all my lines out and disposing of all my swag and awards I used to be proud of. This place is unrecognizable. F T-Mobile and the CEO and VPs that destroyed it.
"I just hope those left, can find it in there heart to start to rebuilding and continue to do what they must to be brave and carry on.. this is going to be very hard to move on from".
It is unfortunate that this is happening. Based on the purge you just wrote, leave. You have a choice right? But you won't. They will pretend care for about 3 days, then back to the grind UNTIL NEXT TIME. When your values, faith in a company and it's leaders is torched and destroyed, you have a decision to make.
Me? I am all good. Not only did I wait for a package and get one, my kid is out of college now. The 3 years of waiting (with pay) for this very predictable end played out like the poker hand I thought it was.
If you stay, you're saying their value system works for you. If you leave, I get it. Do what is best for you, they will.
Share you pain in your sentiment. Disappointed in T-Mobile's whole approach to this process. It's no more about a person's talent being valued and protected. It's about who can be replaced (maybe in a different location) and for cheaper. A very tough time to be a manager with T-Mobile these days trying to keep morale on the positive to the point the managers are starting to wave the white flag. Before the SLT starts preaching of having pride, value etc etc they need to take a long look into the mirror. I wish all those affected but all this well in their future.